Oct 10, 2022
2022/23 Argentina Corn 14% Planted vs. 21% Average
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in Argentina had planted 14% of their 2022/23 corn as of late last week compared to 21% last year. This represented an advance of 7% for the week. The fastest planting pace appears to be in north-central Santa Fe. In the northern core and southern core regions, the corn planting pace is running about 30% behind last year and there are only approximately 20 days left to plant the early corn.
The first phase of corn planting in Argentina usually starts in September and ends at the end of October. The second phase of corn planting starts in December and ends in January.
If dry conditions persist in Argentina, farmers have two options. If they have their seed and fertilizer on hand, they may switch their early corn planting to late corn planting instead. It may not make much of a difference in the eventual corn yield because late planted corn can yield just as high or higher than early planted corn if the weather cooperates later in the season.
The second option is switching some of the intended early corn to soybeans instead. There is still plenty of time to wait for additional rainfall before they need to plant soybeans because November is the main soybean planting month in Argentina. This might be an attractive alternative especially if they have not purchased all the needed inputs for planting corn.