Argentina wheat harvest plunges on drought, locusts
By Rodrigo Orihuela Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) — Wheat output in Argentina’s biggest producing region will plunge 70 percent in the current harvest because of dry weather and locust swarms, an analyst at a local cereals exchange said. The south of Buenos Aires province, which produced about 30 percent of the country’s wheat in past years, will supply less than 10 percent of the grain in the current harvest, Beatriz Allan, an analyst at the Bahia Blanca Cereals Exchange said. Argentine farmers pared wheat sowing this year to 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres), the smallest crop on record, after the outlook for drought and government export curbs discouraged planting. The Buenos Aires government on Nov. 12 released an alert for wheat farmers to prepare to fight off locust attacks as the insect thrives in dry weather. “We didn’t expect weather to be this dry,” Allan said. “The water shortage is killing the plants at a key time before the harvest.” …
