Heavy Rains Delay Argentine Soy, Corn Planting, Exchange Says

By Pablo Gonzalez - Oct 25, 2012
Bloomberg
Heavy rain in Argentina’s main agricultural area known as the Pampas is delaying soy and corn planting, the Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange said today.

Corn planting is 18 percent less than it was a year earlier, the exchange said. Corn farmers in Argentina, the world’s second-largest exporter of the grain, have planted 37 percent of the 2012-2013 crop’s estimated area of 3.4 million hectares, the exchange said today in its weekly report published on its website. The U.S. is the world’s largest corn exporter.

Soy planting is 4 percent less than it was a year ago. Soy farmers have planted 2 percent of the estimated planting area. Producers will plant 19.7 million hectares of soybeans in the 2012/2013 season that started this month, up from about 18.9 million in the prior season, the exchange said.

Planting delays in both grains stem from rain in the main area of the country known as the Pampas. In the Pampas, average accumulated water peaked at 300 millimeters (11.81 inches) and “excess soil moisture hinders fieldwork,” the exchange said.