Reduction in soybean and corn confirmed in Argentina

Coarse grains production faced several difficulties in 2012/13. Seeding was delayed or hampered by water excesses during springtime. 28% of the soybean area and 16% of the corn area were planted behind schedule in the fields of the Regional Consortium of Agricultural Experimentation (CREA), according to a survey conducted among members.

The average delay in the case of soybean was 19 days, with respect to the ideal date, which had a negative impact on yields. Besides, 6.7% of the land planted with oilseeds was spoiled due to bad weather conditions. Likewise, none of the summer crops could be planted in 2.2% of the agricultural area of fields within CREA.

Several crops from the Pampas region began to suffer with a drought situation from mid-January on, due to the sudden change in water conditions. In the North of Argentina, rains were also below normal levels for this time of the year. As consequence of these factors and the effect of summer plagues, yields of the first crop of soybean -in all surveyed CREA fields- will fall an average of 11.5% with respect to the planned seeding, according to the information gathered.

Double crop soybean yields were greatly affected by the late seeding and the drought in January and February: they will present an average reduction of 12.9%. Corn will have a similar behavior: an average fall of 7.4% is estimated for early crops and 11.3% for late crops.