FILE PHOTO: Soy beans are seen at a Grobocopatel Hermanos company storage plant in Carlos Casares, Argentina April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Rain and hail storms have slowed soybean planting in Argentina over the last week, washing out some fields and raising concerns that continued wet weather could put the 2018/19 crop at risk, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in a report on Thursday. Early in the season, the exchange said it expected a 53 million ton soybean harvest, up dramatically from the previous season, which was hurt by drought. So far, 89.7 percent of 17.9 hectares expected to be sown with soy in the current crop year have been planted, the report said. “Although some fields were lost to heavy storms, hail and abundant rainfall, the weather situation continues to be favorable in extensive, high producing regions,” the exchange said in its weekly crop report. “But if the current wet trend continues over the weeks ahead, excessive moisture could begin to dominate the scenario and compromise the normal development of the crop in all regions where soils are already well supplied with moisture,” it said. Argentina is the world’s biggest exporter of soymeal livestock feed, as well as a major supplier of raw soybeans, wheat and corn. (This story corrects harvest to planting in headline and first paragraph) Reporting by Buenos Aires Newsroom, Editing by; Paul Simao
Argentina ’s soyabean planting has faced significant setbacks due to adverse weather over 2018-2019 , leading to concerns that the country’s 2018-2019 crop could be compromised if conditions fail to improve. Rain and hail storms washed out some recently planted fields and, while many high-producing regions escaped the worst effects, REUTERS/ warned that continued moisture could put those crops at risk.Thus 89.7 percent of the soyabean fields have been planted.