Jan 15, 2020
Soy 93% Planted in Argentina, Acreage Reduced due to Dry Weather
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Rains in Argentina have helped to recharge the soil moisture, but the rainfall continues to be unevenly distributed across the country. Some of the last soybeans to be planted are in far northern Argentina, but previously dry weather in the region has allowed farmers to only plant about 50% of their soybeans, which is 40% below average. Northern Argentina did receive some rain over the weekend, so farmers who had been waiting for rain to finish planting their soybeans, should have enough soil moisture to finish planting in another 2-3 weeks.
In general, the 2019/20 soybean crop in Argentina was 93% planted as of late last week according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. In the core production areas, the soybeans are 100% planted with 85-95% of the soybeans planted in southern Argentina and 50-80% planted in far northern Argentina. The full-season soybeans are 95% planted and the double crop soybeans are 31% planted. Most of the soybeans left to plant in Argentina are double crop soybeans following wheat or barley.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange lowered their 2019/20 soybean acreage by 200,000 hectares last week (-1.1%) to 17.5 million hectares. They stated that the reason they lowered the acreage was because it was too dry to plant all the intended double crop soybeans especially in southwestern Buenos Aires province and La Pampa province.
The soybeans in Argentina are rated 60.5% good to excellent, which is lower than last week. The soil moisture for the soybeans is rated 6.9% short and 34.5% optimum, which is an improvement compared to last week. The early planted soybeans are 46% blooming and 5% setting pods. The double crop soybeans are still being planted or in vegetative development.