January 20, 2004

Brazil's 2003-04 Soy Crop Progresses Well

Brazil's soy crop continues to develop well across practically all growing regions, said the local Celeres agricultural consultancy Monday.

As a result, progress of the potentially record crop was on a par with previous years, it added in a weekly report.

The majority of the crop had reached or passed the flowering phase, some 69%, up to Friday. This percentage is well in advance of the 46% registered last week but behind the five-year average of 72% for this stage of the crop.

In compensation, some 3% of the crop had already reached the maturation phase, compared with the week-before figure and five-year average of 1%.

The crop was most advanced in the center-west, where 6% of the crop had reached or passed maturation and 23% had gotten to pod-filling.

In the south of the country, 17% of the crop is in the pod-filling stage. Some 68% of the crop in that region had already gotten to flowering.

Celeres reported that early harvesting continued in the center-west but fieldwork had been hampered by rain in Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso. There are also reports of harvesting in neighboring Goias state, but the overall volume harvested in Brazil remained extremely small.

Celeres forecasts the Brazilian soybean crop will total 59.4 million metric tons in the current 2003-04 season, up from 52.5 million tons the previous year.