Weather issues negatively impacted the expected wheat output of Argentina for the 2020-21 marketing year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA expects wheat production in Argentina to fall to 17.4 million tons for the 2020-21 marketing year due to dry La Niña weather conditions, which are expected to cause losses for the next few months.
Wheat exports for the 2019-20 marketing are expected to close in November at 13.1 million tons, including flour.
The country’s corn production is projected to slip 48 million tons in the 2020-21 marketing year due to a reduction of planted area and yield. With a smaller corn crop expected, the USDA anticipates a decrease in exports of the commodity to 33 million tons.
Low water levels have taken a toll on rice planted areas in Argentina and in turn total production. The 2020-21 marketing year rice production outlook decreased by 5% to 1.2 million tons, according to the USDA.
Unlike the other commodities, Argentina’s sorghum production increased 8% as China’s demand for it ramps up. The USDA expects sorghum’s 2020-21 marketing year production to a total of 2.6 million tons. Sorghum’s exports are expected to hit one million tons, the highest since the 2013-14 marketing year.
Previous predictions about the Argentina wheat
In august other predictions were made by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchanges, saying that dryness and unusually strong frosts and crop-eating pests could lower Argentina’s 2020-21 wheat yields by as much as 50%.
This due to areas of the Pampas grains belt was having below-normal rainfall. Planted acreage fell to 6.5 million hectares from 6.8 million as growers were nervous about the dryness.
“Estimates of potential yield losses range between 20% and 50%, in northeastern and northwestern farm areas, and in the province of Cordoba,” the report said and added that affected areas account for more than 25% of this year’s wheat plantings.