With a presidential election looming next month, Argentine farmers are facing difficult decisions in light of the current economic situation as well as a potential change in government.An old friend from Argentina, who manages a large commercial grain and livestock farming operation in addition to his own farm, summarized his opinion of the situation there in a recent conversation that we had. Below is a recap:

Planted area of all crops will be lower except for soybeans. Wheat is expected to decline by 1.75 million hectares with production dropping to 9.5 MMT. (USDA has it pegged at 11 MMT). Corn planted area will decline by 400,000 hectares with production at 21 MMT. (USDA's latest estimate is 25 MMT.) Soybean planted area will increa...