Bad weather has hurt recently planted Argentine wheat over the last two weeks, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday, but not enough to prompt the exchange to lower its 19-million-tonne crop estimate for the 2021/22 season.
Farmers have sown nearly all the 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres) to be planted with wheat in the South American grains powerhouse this year, the exchange said. It first reported the weather-related wheat crop damage last week.
“The fluctuation between high and low temperatures continues to affect wheat fields, mainly in the western parts of the main farm belt, where there is less moisture in the ground,” the exchange said in its weekly crop report.
Temperature swings are also distressing wheat plantings in the country’s northern provinces, it said. The are no significant rains expected in any of these areas, which would benefit crops, and wheat sown in the southern part of Argentina’s farm area was in good shape, the exchange said.
The exchange said 89.2% of Argentina’s 2020/21 corn crop had been harvested so far, leaving its crop forecast unchanged at 48 million tonnes. Argentina is the world’s No. 3 corn exporter.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Maximilian Heath; writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Sandra Maler)