Easing rains to boost Brazil's soy harvest

Harvesting in Mato Grosso, Brazil's top soy producing state, should gather pace this week as rains ease, according to private weather forecast service Somar on Monday (Jan 18).

"Rain will continue this week, but it will decrease in frequency and help harvesting the soy," said Celso Oliveira, a meteorologist at Somar.

Brazil is the world's No. 2 soy producer, behind the US.

Mato Grosso is traditionally the first state to harvest soy as farmers are already in the fields in regions such as Campos de Julio in the west and Sorriso or Lucas do Rio Verde in the north.

Rain slowed the harvest last week, but this week, the rain should be lighter until Friday, he said.

For instance, Somar said Camps de Julio should receive 5 millimeters of rain on Monday. This will steadily rise to 20 millimeters on Friday.

Daniele Siqueira, analyst at consultancy Agrural, said that rain slowed the harvest last week. The harvest reached 3% of the crop in Mato Grosso as of Jan 15, she said.

Siqueira said that farmers in neighbouring Goias state also recently began harvesting. She said in Mato Grosso and Goias, farmers are seeing yields of 50-55 60-kilogramme bags of soy.

The yield is normal and the quality has been good, she said. "There are no problems," she said.