One of Brazil’s largest soybean-producing states was hit hard by recent flooding, the second flood event in the last six months. Dr. Michael Cordonnier, an agronomist with Soybean and Corn Advisor, says the damage wasn’t limited to crops still in the field.
He says, “One thing no one had anticipated was losing storage facilities. Some of these storage bins collapsed, so they lost all the seeds that were inside. So, there was a combination of not being able to harvest right at the end, and also infrastructure destruction on the farms and in the crushing plants, as well as on-farm storage.”
He says the losses in southern Brazil may not put as big of a dent in South American output as first thought. Dr. Cordonnier says, “What was lost in Rio Grande do Sul mostly has been made up for by increased production in Argentina. Argentina, last year, produced 25 million tons of soybeans. This year, it’s 50, so it was double last year’s production. South America, in general, is up about seven million tons from last year. That is due to the good production in Argentina. Now, speaking of Argentina, soybeans are doing fine in Argentina. Corn, not so much.”
Argentina corn has been hit by pest damage. Dr. Cordonnier says, “Corn had this corn leaf hopper infestation, which causes corn stunt disease. The yields in Argentina for corn are going down on a weekly basis, and this past week, they went down another four-and-a-half bushels. So, each week, they’re getting lower and lower and lower, and that’s because the good corn is already harvested. The corn in general, is 40 percent harvested. The good stuff’s already in, and now they’re moving into the fields most impacted by the corn stunt disease.”
He says the leaf hopper is nothing new for Argentina farmers to deal with. Dr. Cordonnier says, “First of all, it’s endemic to South America, but it’s just been getting worse and worse the last four or five years. In Argentina, it’s endemic to the northern part of the country, but this year, it was the worst ever due to environmental factors, I’m sure, and it moved down into the central part of the country for the first time. This was a once-in-a-generation type infestation, but who knows if it’s a one-off for infestation.”
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Story courtesy of NAFB News Service