Dec 27, 2017
Recent Rains offer Reprieve in Argentina, Dry Weather to Return
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Argentine soybeans - Over the last several weeks, the weather in central Argentina has generally been favorable for early soybean development, therefore, I am more optimistic today compared to several weeks ago. It looks like dryer conditions will now return to Argentina, but for the time being, they have had at least a temporary reprieve.
The soybean planting in Argentina advanced to 71% as of late last week which represents an advance of 7.4% for the week, but it is still 5% slower than last year. In the core production regions, the soybeans are 87-92% planted with generally 50-70% planted in southern Argentina and 2-10% planted in northern Argentina. The primary delays in soybean planting earlier last week occurred in northern Argentina where dry conditions continued to keep farmers from planting. Northern Argentina did receive enough rains over the weekend to probably allow farmers to start planting their soybeans.
Recent rains across central Argentina have relieved the dry conditions in much of Cordoba, Santa Fe, entre Rios, and northern Buenos Aires, at least for the time being. The area to watch going forward is northern Argentina where the planting has been the most delayed. The earliest planted soybeans in Argentina are now starting to flower and the majority of soybeans in Argentina are rated in good condition.
Argentine corn - The Argentine corn crop was 61% planted as of late last week, which represented an advance of 15.9% for the week. Last week saw the most corn planted of any week thus far this growing season. The planting advanced the most in central Argentina after the recent good rains. In the core production regions, the corn is 90-95% planted with 60-90% planted in southern locations and 0-10% planted in northern locations.
The corn planting is slowest in northern locations once again due to previously dry conditions. With the recent rains in northern Argentina, corn planting should now get underway. Even with the advance in planting last week, this year is still the slowest corn planting on record.
Earlier planted corn in Argentina is now pollinating or in early grain fill and the earlier planted corn is generally rated in good condition. There may be some problems with the earlier planted corn yields if the crop was pollinating earlier in December before the recent rains.