CNS Canada – Argentina’s hope for a near-record wheat crop have been dampened by excessive rain and below-average seedings.
With planting nearly complete, the United States Department of Agriculture office in Buenos Aires has estimated the Argentine wheat crop at 12.8 million acres. That falls about one million acres below the official USDA forecast of 13.8 million acres.
The lower acreage represents an increase of 740,000 acres compared to a year ago and should equate to production of about about 16.65 millon tonnes of wheat, according to the Buenos Aires grains exchange. That’s well off the predicted USDA estimate for 17.5 million tonnes, which would have been the second largest Argentine wheat crop ever.
The record occurred in 2007-08 when 18.6 million tonnes were harvested.
The seeded acreage shortfall is blamed on excess rain, mainly in the southwest and southeast of Buenos Aires province.
