Cold, Dry Weather to Boost Delayed Soybean Harvest in Argentina

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES, May 28 (Reuters) – Dry and cold weather conditions expected in the coming days will help dry out Argentina’s agricultural fields, allowing producers to intensify their delayed soybean harvest following repeated rains, the Buenos Aires and Rosario stock exchanges said on Wednesday.

Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal, but heavy rainfall in key farming regions has stalled the oilseed harvest, raising concerns about potential yield losses. The government estimates the 2024/25 soybean crop at 49 million metric tons.

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BdeC) said there will be an influx of cold air that will lower temperatures, with possible frost in some production areas.

“These are expected cold conditions that could help further dry out the crop and improve conditions for the soybean harvest,” Cristian Russo, head of agricultural estimates at the Rosario Stock Exchange (BCR), told Reuters.

“After the rains, they could be a positive factor in recovering those fields and harvesting them,” he added.

According to the BdeC’s latest harvest progress report, soybean harvesting in parts of northern Buenos Aires province was between 9 and 20 percentage points behind last year’s pace. As of last week, 74.3% of the national soybean crop had been harvested.

“Most of Argentina’s agricultural area will receive little to no rainfall (less than 10 millimeters),” the BdeC said in its weekly agroclimatic report.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Hugh Lawson)