Argentina: Grain and Feed Annual
A new government took office in December implementing rapidly policy changes to support the local agricultural sector. The main changes were the elimination of all export taxes (except for soybeans which came down 5 percentage points), the removal of export restrictions (primarily for corn and wheat) and a 45 percent devaluation of the local currency. As a result, wheat production for 2016/17 is projected to rebound to 14 million tons, while barley planted area is expected to drop somewhat with a total production of 3.2 million tons. Corn returns are expected to be very good (and significantly better than soybeans), encouraging farmers to plant 1 million hectares more with a projected production of 31.5 million tons. Sorghum and rice production are forecast to remain practically unchanged.
