BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – More than three months of dry weather has left
most Argentine soy and corn fields in poor to very poor condition, the
Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in its weekly crop report on Thursday.
With little chance of substantial rains on the horizon, the exchange
said 56 percent of the 2017-18 soy crop and 58 percent of corn has been
damaged by a drought that began in November.
“During the last week there were rains of varying intensity in different
parts of the country, but not enough to make up for the moisture
deficit,” the report said.
The exchange left its forecasts of a 50 million tonne soy harvest and a
39 million tonne corn crop unchanged. Over the days ahead it said
moderate rains of 10 to 20 millimeters were expected in the central and
southern parts of the farm belt.
The report was published a day after the top analyst at the Rosario
grains exchange said Argentina’s 2017-18 soy harvest would be 50 million
tonnes at the most.
