ARGENTINE SOYBEAN YIELD ESTIMATES DOWN FURTHER

  Argentine grain producers again
  reduced their estimates for the total yield of the 1986/87
  soybean crop, which will begin to be harvested in mid-April,
  trade sources said.
      They said growers now forecast soybean production this
  season at between 7.5 and 7.8 mln tonnes, down from last week's
  estimate of 7.7 to eight mln tonnes and the 8.0 to 8.4 mln
  tonnes forecast in mid-February.
      The new forecast is still higher than last season's record
  total production.
      Private sources put 1985/86 production at a record 7.2 to
  7.3 mln tonnes -- 4.2 to 6.4 pct lower than the new forecast
  for the current crop. The official figure for 1985/86 is 7.1
  mln tonnes, 5.6 to 9.9 pct below this season's new estimates.
      Growers in the past week discovered more empty soybean pods
  in the main producing areas of southern Cordoba and Santa Fe
  provinces and northern Buenos Aires.
      The crop since January has been hit by high temperatures
  and inadequate rainfall. Growers fear they may find more empty
  pods and have to further reduce their forecasts of total yield.
      The area sown to soybeans this season was a record 3.7 to
  3.8 mln hectares, 10.8 to 13.8 pct higher than the 1985/86
  record of 3.34 mln hectares.
      The state of the crop continued to be good in general until
  last week but intense, heavy rains since could have caused
  damage in areas where rainfall was higher than 100 mm.
      Where the rains were less heavy they were considered
  beneficial although too late to improve yield estimates.
      The rains also benefitted maize and sorghum crops in
  southern Buenos Aires province but are not expected to
  influence production forecasts.
      In other areas, especially western Buenos Aires, where
  rainfall was more than 200 mm, parts of the sunflower, maize
  and sorghum crops not yet harvested may have been damaged.
      The coarse grain crop harvest was interrupted last week by
  rains which also reached over 100 mm in parts of Cordoba, La
  Pampa and Santa Fe and almost 90 mm in parts of Entre Rios.
      The area sown with maize this season was between 3.58 and
  3.78 mln hectares, two to seven pct less than the 3.85 mln
  hectares in 1985/86.
      The yield of 1986/87 maize continued to be forecast at
  between 9.9 and 10.1 mln tonnes.
      This estimate is 19.8 to 20.2 pct lower than the 12.4 to
  12.6 mln tonnes at which private sources put 1985/86 production
  and 21.1 to 22.7 pct lower than the official 12.8 mln tonnes.
      The sunflowerseed harvest has covered 23 to 26 pct of the
  area sown and continues in parts of central Buenos Aires
  although at a standstill elsewhere due to rain and floods.
      A resumption of full harvesting and assessment of damage is
  impossible until rains stop and a spell of a week to 10 days of
  sunshine dries the fields.
      The area sown this season was 2.0 to 2.2 mln hectares, down
  29.9 to 36.3 pct on last year's record 3.14 mln hectares.
      Sunflowerseed 1986/87 production is still forecast at 2.3
  to 2.6 mln tonnes, 34.1 to 41.5 pct below the 1985/86 record of
  4.1 mln tonnes.
      The grain sorghum harvest was the least affected by the
  rains, advancing steadily in Santa Fe and Cordoba and starting
  in La Pampa to cover 14 to 16 pct of the total area sown.
      The area sown was 1.23 to 1.30 mln hectares, 10.3 to 15.2
  pct less than the 1.45 mln hectares the previous season.
      Yield estimates remained at 3.2 to 3.5 mln tonnes, 16.7 to
  22 pct down on 1985/86 production of 4.1 to 4.2 mln tonnes.
  

