Rains come too late for Argentina’s wheat as 2023/24 forecast slips

Heavy rains in recent weeks came too late for Argentina’s wheat harvest, with the Rosario Grains exchange cutting its 2023/24 forecast by 0.8 million metric tons on Wednesday.

Argentina is one of the world’s top wheat exporters, and much-needed rainfall has brought relief to its main agricultural regions after a months-long drought.

However, the drought remained widespread through Oct. 20, and late frosts caused an additional hit to the harvest, the grains exchange said in its monthly grains report.

The new forecast drops Argentina’s estimated wheat harvest to 13.5 million tons, only slightly above the 11.5 million tons brought in during the 2022/23 season, which suffered the worst drought in the country’s history.

For comparison, the 2021/22 harvest, which did not face a drought, totaled 23 million tons.

The recent rains, while too late for the wheat harvest, were much needed for Argentina’s soy and corn, however.

Farmers began planting soy and were able to improve their corn plots, the Rosario exchange said, maintaining its estimates for both crops from the previous month.

The exchange expects Argentine farmers to harvest 50 million tons of soybeans and 56 million tons of corn in the 2023/24 season.

Argentina is one of the world’s top two exporters of soybean oil and meal and the third-largest exporter of corn.

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