BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) — Sunny weather in Argentina over the last week allowed soy farmers to speed up soy harvesting after delays caused by an extremely rainy early April, with continued dryness over the days ahead expected to help maintain a high harvesting tempo.
Argentina, the world’s No. 3 soybean exporter, is expecting a record 2013-14 crop of at least 54 million tonnes. But growers had been concerned that heavy storms early this month would hurt yields and render substantial areas unharvestable.
The recent dry spell, which is expected to continue into next week, has eased those worries. Much of the country’s early-planted 2013-14 soy has already been collected.
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“The harvest is progressing at full speed,” said Stella Carballo, weather expert at the government’s Climate and Water Institute. “There was practically no rain in the central farm belt over the last seven days. The areas that had lost firm footing for harvesting have recovered.”
Last week the agriculture ministry held its crop estimate steady at 54 million tonnes while the Rosario grains exchange increased its projection to 54.9 million tonnes from 54.7 million, saying higher-than-expected yields in Cordoba province have counter-balanced rain-related losses in other areas.
