Unyielding Argentina drought puts crop production In jeopardy

Drought conditions continue to be a big concern for crops in Argentina where the extent of drought is some of the largest of the past 20 years. The first full week of December 2022 was another hot one for the major growing regions, and this trended as the hottest first full week of December in over 30 years, according to data from WeatherTrends360. There were some spotty showers and thunderstorms in the latter half of the week. However, substantial and persistent rains are needed to put a dent in the drought conditions.

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Brazil continues to be more favorable than Argentina, although southern Brazil remains drier than normal. The major corn-growing regions continue to see favorable precipitation, and the first full week of December 2022 was the 5th wettest in over 30 years for the region. In southern Brazil, precipitation has been trending drier than normal, but not nearly as dry as Argentina. Crop conditions look favorable for the major-producing regions thus far in Brazil. 

Moving into the middle of December 2022, the precipitation situation looks much the same in South America as recently. Persistent rains across the major soybean-growing regions of Brazil in the week ending on Dec. 17 will result in this being one of the wettest second full weeks of December in more than 30 years for the region, according to forecasts from WeatherTrends360. Meanwhile, Argentina continues to see very dry conditions with just spotty summertime showers and thunderstorms. This will be one of the driest second full weeks of December in over 30 years for the major-producing regions of Argentina. 

If there’s any upside to the weather forecast for the week ending Dec. 17, it’s the cooler temperatures expected across Argentina relative to recently. Temperatures will trend much closer to normal, whereas the past couple of weeks have been very hot. Hot weather increases the rate of evapotranspiration, so the arrival of cooler temperatures will be welcome although drought conditions will not improve. Drought conditions are likely to reduce the 2022-2023 wheat, soy, and corn harvests in Argentina, while Brazil is looking more favorable for crop production.

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