Cooler weather threatens Argentine wheat with frost – Buenos Aires Grain Exchange

Colder-than-expected temperatures in Argentina next week could trigger frosts and damage crops in one of the world’s largest grain exporting countries, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said on Wednesday.

The most affected crop is likely to be wheat, as farmers in the South American country have yet to start planting corn and soybeans for the 2024/25 season.

“The polar air mass that will accompany the passage of the cold front will create minimum temperatures well below normal across much of the agricultural areas,” the exchange said in its report.

The western part of the country’s agricultural center could be hardest hit, the agency added.

The exchange said the cold front would be followed by “a moderate return of tropical winds, leading to above-normal temperatures in the north of the agricultural area and normal temperatures in the center and most of the south.”

Argentine farmers have completed seeding a total of 6.3 million hectares (15.6 million acres) of wheat fields in recent days.

Tags: wheat, crop condition, Argentina