Argentine Rains Seen Boosting Corn Planting Area to Near-Record Size

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 20 (Reuters) – Argentina’s corn planting area is expected to span some 7.8 million hectares this 2025/26 season, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Wednesday, up 9.6% from the area that was planted for the current season thanks to abundant rains.

If planted, this will be Argentina’s second-largest area ever planted with the staple yellow crop, after the 8.4 million hectares recorded in 2023/24. Corn planting is set to begin in September.

The exchange estimates that Argentina, the world’s third-largest corn supplier, produced some 49 million tons in 2024/25.

In a report, the exchange pointed to better water conditions ensuring good availability of moisture across much of the country’s agricultural heartlands ahead of the early planting phase.

It also marks a recovery from last season, when farmers held off planting due to fears of a plague of leafhopper bugs, which carry a stunting disease that damages the plant’s cobs and kernels.

The separate Rosario grains exchange also hailed the abundant rainfall over recent months, saying this could bring the coming crop to among the country’s highest ever levels.

Some 50 to 150 millimeters (2 to 6 inches) of rain fell across the core agricultural area in recent days, the Rosario exchange said, marking record levels for August after a similar trend last month.

“The 2025 season is progressing with a production potential that could be among the highest in history,” it said in a report, saying the rainfall also boded well for the upcoming soybean season, set to begin planting in October.

Argentina produced 49.5 million tons of soy in 2024/25. The Rosario exchange has yet to give forecast for this season. It expects the country to produce some 20 million tons of wheat, after farmers recently finished planting their fields.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Kylie Madry)