BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) — Sunny weather over the last week helped Argentine farmers reclaim soybean fields in the northern Pampas region that had been flooded by heavy February and early March rains, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in its weekly report on Thursday.
The country is expected to harvest a record 57 million tonnes of soy in the 2014-15 season, according to the exchange.
Flood waters in Cordoba, Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero provinces have receded in recent days thanks to dry weather, allowing farmers to enter affected areas to assess the damage.
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“Over the last seven days, a big number of fields have recuperated,” the report says.
“At the same time, soybean harvesting began in the central farm belt, with yields that exceed historic maximum levels,” the report said. “This confirms the elevated harvest forecasts that have come out over previous weeks, including in areas affected by the floods.”
Argentina is the world’s No. 3 soybean exporter and top supplier of soymeal livestock feed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts a 2014-15 Argentine soy crop of 56 million tonnes. Private estimates go as high as 60 million tonnes. Harvesting on the Pampas farm belt starts this month.
The country’s biggest soy harvest ever was the 53.4 million tonnes collected in the 2013-14 crop year.
