Glacier Farm Media | MarketsFarm — As Argentina continues to face dry conditions, the United States Department of Agriculture attaché in Buenos Aires cut their estimate for the country’s 2024/25 corn crop. Meanwhile the attaché bumped up their call on the Argentine wheat harvest, which was recently completed.
“Farmers planted a larger area of very early corn, roughly 15 to 20 per cent of the total, which is expected to yield high, although the weight of kernels remains a concern because the dry and hot weather in early mid-January 2025 could have a negative impact,” the attaché stated.
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The Buenos Aires desk pegged corn output for the current marketing year at 49 million tonnes, two million less than the current USDA estimate. The attaché placed the harvested area at 6.3 million hectares, 100,000 fewer than the USDA, and estimated yields at 7.78 tonnes per hectare versus the department’s 7.97.
The differences are reflected in Argentina’s exports of 34 million tonnes, down two million from the USDA’s number. Total consumption was slotted at 14.8 million tonnes versus the USDA’s 16.3 million. The disparities led to the attaché’s call on ending stocks at nearly 4.25 million tonnes compared to the USDA’s 2.79 million.
As for wheat, the Buenos Aires desk put their estimate on harvested area for 2024/25 at 6.2 million hectares, which is 200,000 more than the USDA. That brought production to 18.1 million tonnes compared to the department’s 17.5 million.
“Throughout the growing cycle, erratic weather changed projections several times and made it difficult to estimate the state of the final crop,” the attaché wrote.
Estimates for Argentina’s wheat exports held at 11.5 million tonnes as did those for total consumption at 7.05 million. Ending stocks for the current marketing year came in higher, at almost 4.1 million tonnes versus the 3.5 million by the USDA.
