Argentina's corn crop will grow to a record 55 million tonnes in the 2021/22 season, the Buenos Aires grains exchange has said, booming on expanded planting area at the expense of 2021/22 soybeans, the country's main cash crop.
Argentina is the world's top exporter of soymeal and oil and the second largest of corn. However, farmers have recently been pivoting towards corn from soy due to its greater sowing flexibility, which trims the risk of being affected by drought.
The Buenos Aires exchange estimated a soybean harvest of 44 million tonnes, slightly up from a year earlier, in its annual presentation at the beginning of the summer season.
Esteban Copati, head of the department of agricultural estimates at the exchange, pointed out that the corn planting area would grow for the eighth consecutive year to some 7.1 million hectares (17.5 million acres), from 6.6 million hectares in 2020/21.
"This unbroken expansion of the corn area is largely explained by the tools farmers have to manage the crop, the flexible sowing dates, which is a tool that mitigates the impact of climate," Copati said in a presentation online.
Impact Of La Niña
For the 2021/22 season, the exchange expects some impact from the weather phenomenon known as La Niña, which in the main agricultural regions of Argentina generates drier conditions than usual.
Unlike soybeans, corn has a wider sowing window that allows it to avoid starting key development phases in January and early February, the driest and warmest period of the year.
In the 2021/22 season, the soybean crop would register its sixth consecutive drop in planting area, falling to 16.5 million hectares, from the 16.9 million planted in the 2020/21 season, the exchange said.
However, its harvest would grow to 44 million tonnes, from 43.1 million tonnes in the previous season, because the same drought that hit the crop in the 2020/21 season is not expected despite the presence of La Niña.
Harvest Estimate
Regarding 2021/22 wheat, the exchange raised its harvest estimate to 19.2 million tonnes, from 19 million tonnes previously, after it hiked the estimated planting area by 100,000 hectares to a total 6.6 million hectares.
Copati said recent wet weather had helped wheat at a critical stage in key growing areas of Córdoba and Santa Fe.
"The accumulated rains in recent weeks provided very timely relief," he said.
Read More: World Food Prices Rise In August After Two Months Of Decline: FAO
Wheat planting has been completed across the country and farmers will begin their harvest between November and December. Argentina is a major global wheat exporter, though most of its shipments of the grains go to neighbouring Brazil.
Planting of early 2021/22 corn will begin in the next few days, while soybean planting will start in October. Late batches of corn are planted towards the end of the year.
Elsewhere, Argentina's government extended beef export restrictions until the end of October, seeking to bolster domestic supply to help contain rising local food prices, according to a decree published in the official gazette.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more Supply Chain news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
