CORN has overtaken soya beans for the first time as the more profitable of the two crops for Argentinian farmers.
The US Grains Council says Argentinian farmers will make an extra $150 a tonne profit from growing corn this year than soya beans.
Argentinian soya bean production is normally more than double that of corn, although this season, local growers are expected to reap a 26 million-tonne corn crop, compared with 50.5 million tonnes for soybeans.
The local corn crop was forecast at 29 million tonnes about a month ago but dry weather has affected production.
It will still be a record corn crop in Argentina, largely due to higher plantings, with higher profitability this season due to global corn prices still being about double normal levels.
Soya bean futures prices on the Chicago Board of Trade are only about 20 per cent higher than in 2009 and 2010.
The USGC said Argentina's area planted to corn could increase from four million hectares to seven million hectares within the next three to five years.
