ARGENTINA: Climate expert says soy and corn harvest may reach record levels, thanks to heavy rains brought by El Nino

Record ID: 333230

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Climate expert says soy and corn harvest may reach record levels, thanks to heavy rains brought by El Nino
  • Date: 3rd March 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EDUARDO SIERRA, AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER AND CLIMATE EXPERT, SAYING: "The 2012-2013 season looks like it's going to be a record harvest, with a good wheat and barley harvest and a very good soy and corn harvest. The 2013-2014 season could be very good for wheat and barley, because of moisture leftover, and average for soy and corn. And then 2014-2015 could be average for wheat and barley, because of a dry start, and bad for soy and corn because La Nina will be back."
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: International Relations,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVAF1CCK5KJ4F30SDVDH24PJY9KL
  • Story Text: Major grains exporter Argentina will have record soy and corn output in the 2012/13 season, thanks to heavy rains related to the El Nino phenomenon, a local climate expert said on Friday (March 02).
    Eduardo Sierra - the University of Buenos Aires climatologist who accurately predicted the drought that stunted the current 2011/12 season and whose views are widely followed by growers - said next season's soy crop will come in above the record 52.7 million tonnes collected in 2009/2010.
    El Nino - a warming of surface waters of the Pacific Ocean that dramatically affects the weather worldwide - tends to cause rain in South America. Its counterpart, La Nina, is blamed for dryness this season that parched corn and soy fields in December and January before heavy rains brought relief in February.
    Sierra added that moisture dumped this coming season should hold out for good harvests in 2013/14 as well, but production may tail off the following year as La Nina returns.
    "The 2012-2013 season looks like it's going to be a record harvest, with a good wheat and barley harvest and a very good soy and corn harvest. The 2013-2014 season could be very good for wheat and barley, because of moisture leftover, and average for soy and corn. And then 2014-2015 could be average for wheat and barley, because of a dry start, and bad for soy and corn because La Nina will be back," he said.
    Last season's corn crop was a record 23 million tonnes, but the current cycle was hit by the drought. Original estimates of another record harvest this season were dashed by the dryness and President Cristina Fernandez said recently that the 2011/12 season will bring in 22 million tonnes of corn.
    But Sierra predicts a change of fortune for Argentine farmers next year.
    "The wheat and barley harvest will be very good, taking advantage of the water in the ground. There will be a good planting period for wheat and barley and October rains are good for flowering and the filling out of the grains. We will harvest barely in November and wheat in December or early January. We will plant corn and soy beginning in October or November as this year. We will harvest in March, April and May of next year. Everything points to a very good wheat and barley harvest and a possibly a record soy and corn harvest," Sierra added.
    The influential Buenos Aires Grains Exchange forecasts 2011/12 soy production at 46.2 million tonnes and expects a corn harvest of 21.3 million tonnes. Argentina is the world's no. 3 supplier of soybeans, its top exporter of soyoil and soymeal and the No. 2 global corn supplier after the United States.
    Agriculture is a major source of export income for the country and export taxes on farm shipments account for about 10 percent of state revenue.
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