Argentina's soybean sowing is 28.6% complete: BAGE

The sowing of Argentina's soybean crop advanced 9.8 percentage points on the week and reached 28.6% complete, according to data from the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE) in its latest weekly update on Thursday.  

At the same point of 2020, 31.3% of the projected area was planted while the average is 31.5%.

“Rainfall recorded over the last seven days has improved water availability in large sectors of the agricultural area, and significant progress is expected over the next week,” BAGE stated.

Argentina is expected to harvest 44 million mt of soybeans from a planted area of 16.5 million hectares this season, versus 43.1 million mt from 16.9 million hectares in 2020/21.

The sowing of corn reached 29.2% complete over the week, up just 0.2 percentage points on the week, once again due to farmers' focus on soybeans.

At the same point of 2020, 31.4% of the expected area had been sown, while the average is 38.2%.

“The improvement in the humidity levels in the center of the national agricultural gives good expectations for the beginning of the critical period for the crop,” BAGE stated.

BAGE rated 91% of the area as good or excellent, 7 percentage points above last week, while 9% was rated as average versus 16% last week.

The agency’s production output remained unchanged at 55 million mt and the estimated sowing area was 7.1 million hectares.

Wheat

As rain continues to slow down the work, the harvest of the wheat crop reached 17,6 % complete this week, a 5.9 percentage points weekly advance but still 2.2 percentage points below last year. The average for this period is 18.9%.

BAGE’s forecast for production remains at 19.8 million mt, as this supply of moisture alleviated the thermo-hydric stress that affected the crop. “While yields over the center of the agricultural area are close to or even above historical averages, there is uncertainty regarding expected yields in the southern part of the agricultural area after the heat of the last few weeks.”

BAGE rated 59% of the areas as good or excellent, 9 percentage points higher on the week, while 33% was rated average, 3 percentage points below last week, according to the agency.

Areas rated as bad reached 8%, 5 percentage points below last week.