Rain Brings Further Improvement To Argentina Crop Areas
By Andrew Owen
Kansas City, November 11 (World Weather Inc.) – Beneficial rainfall occurred in western Argentina for a second week in a row favoring improved planting and establishment conditions for many grain, oilseed and cotton areas that had been drier biased for weeks earlier this year.
Cordoba and Santiago del Estero had been driest most recently, but both are now reporting much improved conditions. Only a few pockets of dryness remain in the topsoil. La Pampa and neighboring areas trended a little dry during the past week and would benefit from timely rain. Precipitation is expected for much of the country during the next seven days. The only region that will trend drier than normal is Buenos Aires and immediate neighboring areas.
One location in central Cordoba reported 5.15 inches of rain for the seven-day period ending this morning. Chaco and southern fringes of Formosa also reported significant rain during the past week with moisture totals ranging from 3.05 to 3.60 inches. Most other areas outside southern Argentina reported 0.75 to 2.35 inches of rain during the past week. La Pampa and much of central and southern Buenos Aires only reported 0.25 to 0.75 inch of rain with drier pockets in southeastern Buenos Aires.
Topsoil moisture is rated adequate to surplus in much of Argentina. Only portions of Santiago del Estero, La Pampa, and central and southern Buenos Aires have a slight shortage of topsoil moisture. Western Argentina still has a shortage of subsoil moisture, although conditions have improved over those of October. Moisture from the topsoil will continue to permeate down to subsoil levels in the coming days.
Corn, soybean, sorghum, sunseed, and cotton planting will continue through the first half of December in Argentina. Planting conditions in eastern and southern areas have been favorable so far this year while planting was delayed in the west due to dryness. Some areas in Argentina were 
quite cool through October and that also delayed the initial planting of some summer crops. Now that soil conditions are favorable in much of the country, planting should progress swiftly in coming weeks. A few areas from Cordoba through Corrientes are a little too wet for aggressive planting and would benefit from drier conditions in the near future.
As of last Thursday, 36% of the corn had been planted which was up from 31% in the previous week and 1% ahead of last year’s progress. Sunseed planting was 43% completed up nearly 12% from the previous week and still behind last year’s pace of 53%. Rice planting was 84% completed compared to 86% last year at this time.
The only detriment from the recent precipitation was for winter wheat. Minor quality concerns may have developed in a few areas across central parts of the nation. However, the moisture was welcome in most other areas and no serious change came to general crop conditions. Maturation and early harvesting were slowed by the precipitation, but improved weather is forthcoming. The bulk of the harvest occurs during the second half of November through the first few days in January. As long as periods of dry weather evolve in coming weeks, there should be no major concerns for the wheat.
Alternating periods of precipitation and sunshine will evolve in Argentina through the middle of next week. Scattered shower activity will occur today (Wednesday) before a band of showers and thunderstorms advances across the region Thursday. Much of the production region outside portions of Buenos Aires will receive timely rain. Northern Argentina will continue to see frequent periods of rain Friday and this weekend while the southern half of Argentina trends mostly dry. A disturbance will promote erratic rainfall during the first part of next week. Overall, most areas will receive enough rain to keep soil moisture close to current levels. Only Buenos Aires and immediate neighboring areas will trend drier than normal and will experience a significant amount of drying.
Temperatures will trend above average in much of Argentina. The warm weather and timely rain will promote a mostly good environment for summer crop planting and establishment. There will also be several days of dry weather for aggressive winter wheat maturation and harvesting.
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