Argentinian soybean planting had been completed in 31.3% of the projected planted area of 17.7 million ha for the 2019-20 crop year (November-October) as of Wednesday due to sufficient rainfall across the northwest, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange, or BAGE, said Thursday.
This is 1.7 percentage points lower than at the time last year due to a spell of dry weather in late October that delayed sowing, BAGE said in the report.
The planting area increased only 0.1 million ha in the latest week as some farmers have shifted from corn to soybean, BAGE said.
Argentinian farmers are increasingly shifting from corn to more liquid soybean crops, which are cheaper to plant and bring much-needed US dollar inflow into the country, amid a domestic economic slowdown, a trade source said.
In both the core and northern regions of La Pampa and west of Buenos Aires, good climatic conditions for planting have enabled accelerated soy seeding, BAGE said. However, the pace of planting in the south of Cordoba and San Luis has lagged behind the national average because of dry weather in October, it added.
Soybean planting requires sufficient rain to retain soil moisture for crop development. Unfavorable weather, such as dry spells, can decrease Argentina's total soy production and export forecasts.
According to the USDA, Argentina -- the world's third largest soybean producer and exporter -- is projected to produce 53 million mt of soybeans in the current crop year, down 4% year on year, and export 8.8. million mt, down 3% over the same period.
