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Argentina’s Winter Wheat Campaign Starts Fast as Policy and Input Costs Reshape Planting Outlook

A two-point cut in export duties and a drop in urea prices have altered regional planting math without producing a clear rise in national sowing intentions.

Overview

  • Wheat sowing began at a rapid pace, with reports on Friday, May 29 showing about 14.2% of the planned 6.5 million hectares already planted and a provisional national production projection near 21.3 million tonnes.
  • President Javier Milei announced export duties on wheat and barley will fall from 7.5% to 5.5% starting in June, a political signal that PAS says has not yet translated into higher countrywide sowing intentions.
  • A marked fall in urea prices from roughly US$1,000 to US$830 per tonne prompted the Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario to shrink its expected area cut in the región núcleo from 17% to 12%, reducing the regional loss from about 300,000 to 220,000 hectares.
  • Soybean harvest is nearing completion at about 84–85% collected with strong yields and a 50.1 Mt projection, while maize harvest lags at roughly 34.7% collected and a maintained 64 Mt forecast, both factors that influence crop rotation and final wheat area.
  • Across the Atlantic, Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture projects a steep cereal drop in Castilla y León of about 23.5% with local farm groups estimating losses up to 30–40%, highlighting how weather, costs, and policy produce divergent cereal prospects between regions.