BUENOS AIRES, Feb 25 (Reuters) – With Argentine ground water levels high ahead of soy and corn harvesting season, which starts next month, farmers worry that El Niño-related rains may trigger floods that could swamp parts of the already soggy Pampas grains belt.
Six provinces were declared flood emergency areas by the government last week, making special credit lines and tax breaks available to affected growers. The floods washed out roads, but had little effect on the market because 2014-15 crops had long been harvested and trucked.
“The water table is already very high, and that is a potential problem. Flooding could be triggered in March by not very much rain,” said Santiago del Solar, who farms thousands of hectares in the bread basket province of Buenos Aires.
“The weather is unpredictable, but now we know that El Niño is there. So it’s a worry,” del Solar said.
This year’s El Niño weather pattern, which causes global climate extremes, has worsened floods in some parts of South America, including Argentina. In other areas, such as Colombia, it has brought drought.
Leonardo De Benedictis, meteorologist for Argentina’s Rural Channel TV station, said soy and corn farmers in the southern Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces will get 20 to 30 percent more rain in March than the normal average of 150 to 200 millimeters.
“There have already been important excesses of rain in both these areas. Some fields are totally under water. The rest of the farm belt is not in such bad shape,” he said.
The government’s flood emergency covered the provinces of Cordoba, Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Chaco, La Rioja and Corrientes. Buenos Aires was not included in the emergency, but excessive rains have fallen in parts of that province as well.
“There are some flooded areas but soy and corn conditions generally seem pretty good so far. We should wait and see what happens during the following weeks,” said Esteban Copati, an analyst with the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange.
There had been talk in the international markets of floods inhibiting transport of Argentine sugar to port. While some trucks may have been delayed, the country’s sugar output is too small to have an impact on world prices.
The Argentine Sugar Center, an industry chamber, says the country produces about two million tonnes per year, only about 10 percent of which is exported.
