MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina's wheat harvest the worst in seven years caused by climate variability

Rosario grains exchange cut its 2022/23 harvest forecast to 15 million tons, down from 16 million tons estimated last week

Argentina's projected wheat harvest, “is in a very critical situation, and could get worse”. announced Rosario grains exchange which cut its 2022/23 harvest forecast to 15 million tons, down from 16 million tons estimated last week

The anticipated wheat harvest, which would make this year the worst in seven years, suffered again this week when it was hit by a late frost, already damaged by drought.

Argentina produced a record 23 million tons of wheat in the last growing season.

The country is a major grains exporter, but this crop year has been hit by a drought that dates back to May, exacerbating the impact of low temperatures during the southern hemisphere spring, when many wheat fields were in key development stages.

However the Rosario exchange maintained its projections for the 2022/23 corn harvest at 56 million tons and its 2022/23 soybean harvest at 48 million tons. Producers are beginning to plant corn, and soybean sowing will start in coming weeks.

The exchange said that due to the drought farmers may opt to plant more land in soybeans, a hardier crop than corn, estimating that the planting area for the oilseed could reach 17 million hectares.

The exchange said producers so far have planted only 12% of the 8 million hectares forecast for corn, 15 percentage points behind the planting rate at the same time last season

In view of the latest figures the US Department of Agriculture revised its projection for Argentine foreign sales to 12.5 million tons, one million less than what had been forecasted in September.