- Title: Key Argentina soy area still coping with late 2016 floods
- Date: 25th January 2017
- Summary: PERGAMINO, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JANUARY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOY FIELDS THAT WERE DESTROYED BY FLOODS VARIOUS OF DAMAGED STALKS VARIOUS OF CARLOS ZUCARELLI, FARMER, LOOKING AT HIS DAMAGED FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CARLOS ZUCARELLI, FARMER, SAYING: "It's irrecoverable because there's no time left to replant soy because for all of this water you're looking for it to dry out, it will be a while and then it can't rain before that. And by then the soy, you could (sow), but you wouldn't harvest anything, or you would harvest very little because there isn't enough time. Right now it is already late, today it's already too late to plant." VARIOUS OF SOY PLANTS DAMAGED BY RAIN VARIOUS OF PLANTS WITH YELLOW LEAVES THAT WILL NOT CONTINUE TO GROW BECAUSE OF DAMAGE SOY FIELD FLOODED BY RAIN VARIOUS OF LUIS CROSETTI, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT OF ARGENTINE FEDERATED FARMERS (AFA), WALKING THROUGH FIELDS AND EVALUATING SOY DAMAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUIS CROSETTI, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT OF ARGENTINE FEDERATED FARMERS (AFA), SAYING: "The area affected by this weather phenomenon is about 15 to 20 percent of the total planted area. We can estimate that in the Pergamino zone, the area affected by the floods represent a total loss of approximately 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres or 300 square kilometres)." VARIOUS OF CORN FIELDS DAMAGED BY RAIN VARIOUS OF ENTIRE SOY FIELDS DAMAGED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARIEL PIZI, AREA FARMER, SAYING: "We (on his farm) have about a 10 to 12 percent loss which is quite a bit, because while we are owners of part of this field, 70 percent of the area is rented. So the water is costing us practically all of our profit and I think we will feel that strongly come harvest time."
- Embargoed: 8th February 2017 00:19
- Keywords: Argentina soy crop flood Buenos Aires
- Location: BUENOS AIRES AND PERGAMINO, ARGENTINA
- City: BUENOS AIRES AND PERGAMINO, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA00160FZJGJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Soy grower Carlos Zucarelli looks over his farm in Argentina's bread-basket province of Buenos Aires, watching ducks float around on a shallow lake covering much of what was meant to be this year's crop area.
His and other farms in the area of Pergamino in northern Buenos Aires are still suffering from the effects of heavy December and January rains that flooded about 20 percent of their fields.
Of Zucarelli's 70 hectares, 40 percent is underwater.
"It's irrecoverable because there's no time left to replant soy because for all of this water you're looking for it to dry out, it will be a while and then it can't rain before that. And by then the soy, you could (sow), but you wouldn't harvest anything, or you would harvest very little because there isn't enough time. Right now it is already late, today it's already too late to plant," he said.
Elsewhere in Buenos Aires province and the southern part of the neighbouring province of Santa Fe, flood-related losses are estimated by the Rosario grains exchange at 660,000 hectares.
The exchange sees Argentina's soy harvest at 52.9 million tonnes, under the 55.3 million tonnes produces in 2015-16.
In Pergamino as a whole, farmers say about 20 percent of seeded crop land has been overcome by excessive moisture.
Some 500 millimetres of water have fallen in this area since late December, said Luis Crosetti, advisor to the Pergamino chapter of the AFA (Federation of Argentina Farmers).
"The area affected by this weather phenomenon is about 15 to 20 percent of the total planted area. We can estimate that in the Pergamino zone, the area affected by the floods represent a total loss of approximately 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres or 300 square kilometres," Crosetti explained.
The flooding in the world's No. 3 soybean exporter caused soybean and soymeal prices on the Chicago Board of Trade to hit six-month highs last week.
The agriculture minister has not yet issued a soy harvest estimate but he told local media that he expected the December and January rains to have "a strong effect on production."
Another farmer down the road is Ariel Pizi, who says about 12 percent of his planting area has been lost.
Close to the flooded parts of his farm, soy leaves are turning yellow rather than the usual green, meaning they are also suffering from too much rain.
"We (on his farm) have about a 10 to 12 percent loss which is quite a bit, because while we are owners of part of this field, 70 percent of the area is rented. So the water is costing us practically all of our profit and I think we will feel that strongly come harvest time," he said.
The water on his and other farms has turned what should be green fields into a range of yellowish colours punctuated by black splotches of land that will not be replanted this year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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