Mar 04, 2020
Hot and Dry Weather Could Impact Late Crops in Argentina
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Argentina Soybeans - The weather in most of Argentina was hot and dry over the weekend with many areas being dry for two weeks. The forecast for this week also for hot and dry conditions across most of Argentina. The soils of Argentina have a very good water holding capacity, so it takes a while for moisture stresses to develop, but some moisture stresses are starting to appear and there will be more by the end of this week. Excessive moisture in parts of far northern Argentina could negatively impact the crop, but only a few percent of the Argentine soybean crop is grown in the area.
Yields of the full-season soybeans in the core production region are expected to be better than average. The yields of the later planted soybeans could still be impacted if the current dry weather pattern persists.
The Argentina soybean crop is rated 69% good to excellent which is down 2% from last week. The soil moisture for the soybeans is rated 96% favorable to optimum, which is down 1% from last week. As of late last week, the soybeans were rated 36.5% filling pods and 4.9% mature. The full-season soybeans were 51.5% filling pods and 7.2% mature. The late planted soybeans were 5% filling pods.
Argentina Corn - The current dry weather pattern in Argentina will probably not have much of an impact on the early planted corn since it is so close to maturing. That may not be the case though for the late planted corn that is now pollinating and starting to fill grain.
Approximately 1.0% of the corn in Argentina had been harvested by late last week with most of the harvest occurring in the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Rios. Early yields are better than last year and farmers in central Argentina are confident they will have good corn yields. In the core production areas, yield estimates continue to increase, which is expected because the corn was planted early and the weather has been beneficial the entire growing season.
Any impact from the current hot and dry weather will probably be felt in the later planted corn that will still need additional moisture for another 1-2 months.
The 2019/20 Argentina corn was rated 59% good to excellent, which is down 2% from last week. The soil moisture for the corn was rated 95% favorable to optimum, which is unchanged from last week. As of late last week, the corn was 28.8% mature and 1.0% harvested. The earlier planted corn was 46% mature and 1.7% harvested. The later planted corn was only 1.2% filling grain and none of the crop was mature.