Record wheat harvest for Argentine farmers

Argentine farmers have excelled in the past year, with the 2021-22 wheat harvest expected to be a record. During November and December they brought in 21.9 million metric tonnes of wheat, according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. That was up some 28 per cent on the same period for the 2020-21 season.

Argentina’s successful wheat harvest is in contrast to the problems other major growers have been experiencing. Global supplies from Russia, the United States and Canada have, for a variety of reasons, been drying up, meaning Argentine wheat could be a very attractive option for the likes of the Middle East countries.
Russia has restricted its surplus of wheat by raising wheat export taxes and setting quotas on the amounts allowed to be shipped out of the country. In North America adverse weather has hit harvests in both the US and Canada. Ukraine, under threat of invasion by Russia, is also looking at limiting its exports of wheat between now and the middle of the summer. Argentine farmers had sown over 6.6 million hectares in wheat and realised an average yield of 3.4 metric tonnes per hectare. Some 87 per cent of the wheat crop is said to be in excellent-to-good condition with 13 percent described as “fair”.

Argentina may not be quite the ‘go-to’ supplier this year to make up for shortfall elsewhere however. With concerns that external demands might hype up the country’s inflation, it is setting its own limits on exports to 12.5 million metric tonnes. Traditionally Argentina is a key wheat supplier to its neighbour Brazil.

Source: FAO, farmweek