NEW RAINS IN ARGENTINA’S FARMLANDS A ‘BLESSING’ FOR CORN AND SOYBEANS
Argentine farmers received a “blessing” of 50-60 millimeters (2-2.4 inches) of rain in recent hours, providing relief to the country’s thirsty corn crop and an opportunity for farmers to begin sowing the soybeans campaign, the Rosario grains exchange (BCR) said on Thursday. The Buenos Aires grains exchange (BdeC) said that thanks to the rains 86.7% of the area planted with corn is in conditions considered good or normal – up 10.3 percentage points from a week ago.
In the case of Argentina’s important wheat crop, however, the recent rainfall came too late, leaving the crop to go through key development stages amid adverse weather conditions, it said. The BdeC on Thursday cut its estimate for the 2023/2024 wheat harvest by 5% to 15.4 million metric tons. Argentine farmers have planted about a quarter of the 8.5 million hectares planned for the 2023/24 corn season, which is expected to produce a harvest of 56 million metric tons, according to the BCR. Planting for the 2023/24 soybean season is just beginning, and the exchange estimates will have an output of 50 million tons.
(Link: Successful Farming)
U.S. FARM LEADERS, VISITING CHINA, TALK UP AGRICULTURE TRADE
A delegation from 11 groups including the U.S. Soybean Export Council, U.S. Grains Council, and U.S. Wheat Associates is visiting a week after Chinese grain buyers signed non-binding agreements in Iowa to buy billions of dollars worth of produce, mostly soybeans.
U.S. Grains Council officials visited China’s commerce ministry earlier on Thursday and raised China’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against U.S. imports of distillers dried grains (DDGS). Oilseeds and grains are the top U.S. export to China, accounting for $25.4 billion last year, far ahead of other goods such as semiconductors, but Brazil has been eating into the U.S. share of the Chinese market. Imports of Brazilian soybeans are up 18% in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, compared with an 8% increase in U.S. arrivals.
(Link: Reuters)
