March 24, 2011
Winter Production Update, March 24th 2011
Greetings!
I thought you might like a non-scientific, gut-feel account of how the winter soybean crop is progressing in both Chile and Uruguay.
First of all, we took most of the earlier varieties (00 through about 3.2) to Chile this year, and the later material was placed in Uruguay.
In general, our seed to both destinations was shipped significantly sooner last fall (in some cases up to 2 weeks sooner) which allowed for an earlier planting date and perhaps an earlier return of the seed this spring. Yield estimates from both regions appear to be in line with our estimates, with perhaps some upside.
Here is an update by region:
CHILE:
The crop in Chile is progressing nicely. Earlier planting dates last fall—aided by a more streamlined advancement process, and a real effort aimed at shipping seed south in a more timely fashion—has really helped us this year.
Additionally, the season has been more “normal” this year. Last season’s unseasonably cool weather led to a very slow maturation process, delayed harvest, and the late return of seed back to the U.S.
This year, the heat units are better, the weather has cooperated, and things seem to be moving along on a much better timeline for return.
Harvest has officially begun, with several RM 00 lines already being conditioned. Many lines will be harvested over the next 2 weeks. As always, there are a few stragglers, and a few fields that were planted later than we would have liked, but that number appears to be manageable.
URUGUAY:
Uruguay is a funny place. Due to the high heat units, once the crop gets going it really goes. A very dry start to the season delayed dryland planting until mid-December. Then there was very little rain for the next month or so, and the crop was very much behind schedule and doing poorly. Then it began to rain, and things are actually starting to look good. Harvest should begin in the next week or so, and will be very compressed into about a 2-week window for most maturities.
We have a fairly sizeable percentage of our acreage under irrigation, and those fields look excellent. Most of our varieties from 3.2 all the way through 5.7 are planted here.
Shipping from Uruguay remains an issue. The infrastructure (or lack of) and infrequent ship departure dates always seem to delay the return of seed to the U.S. We are working to find creative ways to speed up this process.
SUMMARY
In general, we feel much better about the season this year versus last. While winter produced seed is never back as soon as we would like, we are at least hopeful that most of the seed will arrive back in the U.S. in a more timely fashion versus a year ago.
You can expect updates every 10 days or so as the harvest continues.
Thanks for your business, and good luck with your sales as we head toward planting season!
Sincerely,
PETERSON GENETICS, INC.
Mike Peterson
