March 11, 2005

Brazil Rio Grande do sul soy crop down 60 percent

Soybean output potential in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's No. 3 state, has dropped 60 percent because of one of the worst droughts in living memory, the state's agricultural secretariat, or Emater, said Thursday.

In its latest crop survey, which was conducted on Tuesday, output in the state will total 3.33 million tonnes, sharply down from the 5.38 million tonnes forecast on February 25 and inital expectations of 8.3 million tonnes.

The crop is in the extremely sensitive pod-filling and flowering phase, and the continued dry weather is causing rapid deterioration, said Ricardo Schwarz, Emater's technical director.

The news comes on the day the US Department of Agriculture reduced its Brazil crop estimate to 59 million tonnes and days after the Agriculture Ministry forecast a crop of 57 million tonnes. The Ministry pegged Rio Grande do Sul production at 5.5 million tonnes.

A dry February and March in the state followed below average rainfall in November and December, which created the current critical situation. Heavy rain is expected to fall on the state over the weekend.