Brazil soy harvest hits 10%, corn plantings could be cut: AgRural

Brazil’s soybean harvest has reached 10% as of Thursday, according to consultants AgRural, up 4 percentage points on the week, although it remains well short of the 19% of land harvested at this point last year and the five-year average of 12%.

The delay is largely down to slow harvest rates in the state of Parana, the second largest producing state and one that has harvested just 1% of its crop.

That compares to 13% last year and a five-year average of 16%.

“Even with open weather throughout the week, work has progressed slowly because there are still few areas ready due to the delay in planting and the lengthening of the cropping cycle of the western region,” AgRural said in a weekly release.

However, the consultants expect the harvest to “advance rapidly” next week should the rains hold off.

In the key producing state of Mato Grosso, which is generally one of the first states to export, the harvest has reached 30%, while in neighbouring states Goias and Mato Grosso do Sul the harvest reached 9% and 6%.

Those four states account for more than half of bean production.

Corn crop cut

In terms of the second corn crop, 15% of the estimated area has been planted, up 4 percentage points on the week, but down on the 27% in the same period last year and a five-year average of 19%.

The delay in planting is due to a delay in the soybean harvest and could lead to a loss of planted area, according to the consultants, as “at unattractive prices, growers tend not to extend the planting beyond the ideal window”.

Planting reached 31% in Mato Grosso, but just 1.2% in Parana due to the delay in the soybean harvest. That compared with a five-year average of 22%.

For summer corn, the harvest is in line with historical averages, reaching 11% as of Thursday – in line with last year’s rate and just a tad shy of the 12% average of the last five years.