U.S. Soy Planted Area Down Slightly From 2004

U.S. soybean planted area for 2005 could reach 29.7 million hectares, down 3 percent from last year’s record high acreage, according to USDA. Area for harvest, forecast to be 29.3 million hectares, is down 2 percent from 2004. Area planted was decreased or unchanged from last year in most of the 31 major soybean producing States. However, in 8 States planted area increased, including Kansas, Missouri, and record-high soybean acreage in Nebraska, said USDA. Growers in North Dakota and Minnesota showed the largest decrease in soybean acreage, each 202,000 hectares less than 2004. Nationally, farmers reported that 91 percent of the intended soybean acreage had been planted at the time of the survey, compared with the average of 78 percent for the past 10 years, USDA said.

USDA also reported last week that soybeans stored in all positions on June 1, 2005 totaled 19.1 million tonnes, up 70 percent from June 1, 2004. On-farm stocks totaled 9.69 million tonnes, up 224 percent from a year ago. USDA said off-farm stocks were 9.36 million tonnes, up 14 percent from the 2004 level. The March - May 2005 indicated disappearance is 18.6 million tonnes, up 38 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to USDA.

Brazil Expects 50.2 Million Tonne Crop

Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry held its estimate for the 2004-05 soybean crop (October-September) at a record 50.2 million tonnes in its July forecast. The production estimate is marginally higher than last year’s record 49.8 million tonnes. However, output could have been 10 million tonnes higher, were it not for a sustained drought in the south of the country, said the Ministry. The Ministry reduced its total grain, oilseeds and cereals crop forecast to 112.4 million tonnes from the 113.7 million tonnes expected in May. The reduction mainly is due to losses to the corn crop.

Argentine GM Seed Dispute With Monsanto Escalates

Argentina intends to fight a lawsuit filed by Monsanto over alleged infringement of property rights by farmers planting genetically modified soybeans. Last week, Monsanto filed a patent infringement suit in Denmark against traders in Argentine soybeans produced from its genetically modified Roundup Ready (RR) seeds. By filing in Denmark, the company said it aimed to “clarify its intellectual property rights since some parties (in Argentina) have expressed doubts about those rights.” The move follows months of fruitless negotiations in which Monsanto has been pushing the Argentine government to put in place an effective royalty collection mechanism.

Any hopes that the threat of legal action would lead the Argentine federal government to take a more conciliatory approach were dashed last week. The Argentine government reacted angrily, calling the move “extortion” and saying it would confront Monsanto in every court where it took its case. Agriculture Secretary Miguel Campos said Monsanto has patent rights in Europe on its seed, “but not on grains and their byproducts” that are sold by Argentine producers. Campos then ordered Argentine embassies to prepare to fight Monsanto in European courts. “Because of Monsanto’s bullying tactics, the only solution we will now accept is the withdrawal of the legal challenge,” Campos said.

The government had in the past promised to create a special fund to compensate Monsanto, but the project has been stuck in Congress for over a year due to stiff resistance from farm lobbies.

China Expects Smaller Rapeseed Crop, Other Oilseed Imports Could Benefit

China is expected to produce around 11 million tonnes of rapeseed this year, 15% less than 2004, according to the China National Grains and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC). However, ample supplies of other oils mean that neither rapeoil prices nor rapeseed imports are likely to benefit from the shortfall. Rapeseed production has been hit by cold spring weather in central China, and this is reported to have reduced the oil yield. CNGOIC estimates this year’s harvest at 11.2 million tonnes.

Canada has increased its canola area this year and had hoped to fill some of the supply gap created by lower Chinese rapeseed production. However, CNGOIC said this is unlikely because cooking oil retailers have turned to cheaper palm oil and soybean oil. Soybean imports rose 24.9% in the first five months of this year, to 9.3 million tonnes and palm oil imports rose 16.5% to 911,198 tonnes.

Iowa State To Study Molecular Interaction Between Asian Rust And Soybean Plants

Iowa State University is beginning a study of the molecular interaction between a soybean plant and the Asian rust fungus; one of the first studies to look at the molecular changes that occur in soybeans infected by the pathogen. Researchers affiliated with Iowa State’s Plant Sciences Institute hope the investigation can someday lead to the development of a soybean variety resistant to the deadly pathogen.

Iowa State plans to capture genetic material at the earliest stages of the infection because the molecular interactions between the soybean plant and the rust fungus at that time are expected to be critical in determining the fate of disease progression. Researchers believe the plant defense mechanisms may be activated in the resistant variety during the early stage of infection, while the susceptible variety is expected to lack effective defensive actions against the fungus. The process will take up to two months to garner the adequate amount of data, according to Iowa State.

Soy Complex Lower On Hurricane Dennis Forecast