MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Another record crops season in the making for Argentina

Argentine farmers are expected to dedicate 12% more land to corn in the 2007/08 crop despite dry conditions and a shortage of seed and fertilizer, a corn producers' group said this week.

Argentina, the world's second-biggest corn exporter after the United States, produced a record 22 million tons in the 2006-07 harvest, according to government figures, and sowing the new crop is about to begin. Corn producers' association Maizar had previously forecast that 20% more land would be planted with 2007-08 corn due to high global prices, but it said it was lowering its outlook to 3.8 million hectares because of the adverse weather conditions and shortages of vital agricultural supplies. "The lack of rain in areas such as western Buenos Aires (province), Córdoba or La Pampa meant the estimate for the crop was slightly lower" Maizar said in a statement, adding that reduced yields would mean 2007-08 production increased by just 5% from the previous harvest. Córdoba is Argentina's top corn producer, followed by Buenos Aires, with La Pampa the fifth-biggest grower. Maizar President Juan Gear said the estimate had also been reduced due to "the uncertainty caused by the lack of seeds and fertilizers". Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat has yet to forecast the 2007/08 corn area, or production, but the US Department of Agriculture expects a record crop of 24 million tons. Dry and chilly weather conditions in wheat-growing areas hampered sowing and the development of the 2007/08 crop last week the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said in its weekly crop progress report. But despite the difficult weather conditions, the grain exchange said high prices were encouraging farmers to plant wheat in Argentina, which is among the world's top five wheat exporters. "The condition of crops continued to worsen slightly. Although wheat remains good to very good in the central zone, it carried on getting worse in the southern and western wheat belt due to the lack of soil moisture and low temperatures," the exchange said. By Friday, farmers had planted 92% of the estimated wheat area of 5.4 million hectares, 1.5 percentage points more than a week earlier. Most of the wheat that is yet to be sown is in southern parts of Buenos Aires province, the region that produces about 60% of Argentina's wheat. Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat has not estimated the size of the 2007/08 wheat crop yet, but the US Department of Agriculture foresees Argentine output of 14 million tons.