La Canderia: Wheat (Trigo)

There are currently prohibitions from exporting wheat in Argentina, which has given the three or four larger wheat mills the power to control the price of wheat in the country.  For this reason, wheat is planted annually at La Candelaria for the sole purpose of seed preservation for the time that the market price goes up or the export prohibitions are lifted.  The world market for wheat is currently around $180 per metric ton, and in Argentina wheat is selling for closer to $80-$100 per ton. In 2011, the loss on the wheat production at La Candelaria was 13%.

Seeding occurs in June and harvesting in December. It is ideal to seed when the conditions are dry to prevent the seeds from absorbing moisture, freezing and losing their ability to germinate. Furthermore, the reason that wheat is most often planted after a soybean harvest is because the mulch that remains after a maize harvest retains too much moisture thereby increasing the freezing probability of the seeds.  Wheat yields are on average 3300 kg per hectare, are at their highest at 5000 kg per hectare, and are around 1800 kg per hectare when the seeds are subjected to a frost.

The seeds have a fungicide treatment applied pre-planting to protect against fungi in the soil. About 600,000 seeds are planted per hectare, and each seed grows into 3-4 wheat shoots. Herbicide is applied during the seedling phase, and then a second fungicide is applied in the second to last phase of the growth cycle to prevent roya (rust), a fungus that affects all the crops harshly. Other pests include caterpillars.

Since wheat is returning such a low value in Argentina currently, decisions for chemical applications need to be carefully calculated. Direct applications – ones done on the ground by tractors – result in an automatic 5% loss of the crop because of the damage done by the tractor tires. Aerial applications on the other hand are much more expensive. So, the yield of a crop must first be determined to see if more will be made from the crop using an aerial or direct application. Generally, if it is a productive field, the application is done by plane, and if it is a non-productive field, the application is done on the ground.

Harvesting wheat is similar to other grains. The controls are similar too – 333 grains per square meter equals 100 kg per hectare.

Wheat can be used for a number of markets. Wheat can be used for fodder, wheat pellets can be produced as a by-product during wheat processing, and wheat is used widely for human consumption.  Two common seed varieties used are baguette 11 and cronox. The problem with producing higher value wheat varieties, is that the market to get back your money doesn’t always exist at the time of harvest.