March 22, 2006

 

Brazil's Parana 2005/06 soy yields at 39 bags/hectare, says group

 

 

Soybean growers and agronomists said Monday (Mar 20) they expect yields in Brazil's northern Parana state around 39 60-kg bags per hectare for the 2005/06 crop currently being harvested.

 

That was below the government estimates of roughly 2,660 kg of soy per hectare, or 44 bags per hectare, for Parana this season, the second largest soy-producing state in Brazil.

 

Farmers met with agronomists and agribusiness leaders from Bunge, Dow Agro Science and others for a crop tour of northern Parana farms Monday and Tuesday. Agribusiness consulting firm AgroConsult analysed over a dozen properties on Monday. Preliminary estimates are for no more than 39 bags per hectare in the northern part of the state, according to Walter Meirelles, an agronomist at Embrapa Soja, Brazil's state-owned soy research centre.

 

On Monday, the National Commodities Supply Corp (Conab) of Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said Parana is forecast to produce roughly 10 million tonnes of soybeans in the 2005/06 harvest, compared with 9.5 million tonnes in the 2004/05 harvest. Total production figures from the agronomists' tour were not available.

 

Brazil's greatest average yields were for the 2002/03 soy crop, when soy production averaged 46 bags per hectare, according to Conab's figures.

 

Conab said it expects Brazil to harvest 57.2 million tonnes in 2005/06, down nearly a million tonnes from its January estimate because of dry weather and plant disease in isolated areas. Conab specifically cited weather concerns in pockets of Parana for the drop in output.

 

"Production is horrible this year because of dry weather," said Cezar Ivantes, a farmer managing 250 hectares of soybeans and a member of the Cocamar cooperative in Maringa, a mid-sized city known for its agribusiness. Ivantes estimated 25 bags per hectare on his property, compared with 40 bags last year, even with last year's drought.

 

Farmers and soy analysts have been saying all year that soy growers would use less pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers in the 2005/06 crop in order to cut costs. That was visible on the crop tours Monday, with soy plants loaded with pods producing only two beans, whereas three beans per pod is ideal. Many plants only had a couple of stem branches.

 

On one property, nearly half of the soybean quality was ruined because of insects. The soybeans were cracked, malformed or green. Some properties had large weed cover and were expected to produce only 30 bags per hectare.

 

"We're looking at a 38 bag per hectare harvest nationwide," said Antonneio Mourao, a farm credit analyst at the state-owned Banco do Brasil.

 

"We've seen some places in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul that will easily harvest over 50 bags, even 60 bags a hectare, so the production losses here even out in the end. No matter what, this is going to be a record harvest and many producers are going to break production records," Mourao said.

 

Since 1996/97, Brazil has produced over 2,300 kg of soybeans per hectare, or roughly 38 bags, putting Brazil's 2005/06 yields on par with recent harvests.