Soybean planting in Argentina has been completed despite the prevailing dry weather conditions, although the output projection has been revised down due to La Nina, according to a report from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange Jan. 28.
Of the total projected acreage of 17.2 million hectares for the 2020-21 crop year (November-October), Argentinian soybean farmers have managed to plant 100% of the area as of Jan. 27, up 1.4 percentage point on the week, BAGE said.
However, the prevailing crop conditions are far from ideal as La Nina-led high temperatures and limited rains in key areas have badly impacted the crop development.
As a result, the 2020-21 soybean output has been revised down 500,000 mt from an earlier estimate to 46 million mt, BAGE said.
According to the report, only 18% of the planted beans are in good-to-excellent condition, down 3 percentage points on the week and 48 points on the year.
North and South-Central regions, as well as the Central-East of Entre Rios and the Central-North of Córdoba have reported significant heat-related crop damage, BAGE said.
La Nina-induced dry weather concerns linger for Argentinian soybean farmers as the weather phenomenon has brought irregular rains and droughts in the country in recent years.
Argentinian soybean yields have declined by 2%-6% during La Nina years, analysts said. Climatologists have predicted the current year's La Nina to be one of the strongest in three decades.
The crop damage possibilities are expected to support US soybean futures prices, which are trading at a six-and-half-year high, analysts said.
The March soybean futures contract was trading at $13.5812/bu on the Chicago Board of Trade at 0614 GMT Jan. 29.
In the coming days however, favorable weather is expected to prevail in key areas.
Rainfall is expected to increase across northern and central Argentina over the next several days, with the heaviest amounts favoring southern Santa Fe and northern Buenos Aires, which should ease dryness and favor corn and soybeans, weather agency Maxar said Jan. 28. Cooler weather is also expected across Argentina in the weeks ending Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, which will limit heat stress on crops, it added.
