November 7, 2006

Brazil's 2006/07 soy crop 37 percent planted as of Nov 3

Brazil's 2006/07 soy crop was 37 percent planted as of Nov 3 out of a total area of 20.7 million hectares, local farm consultancy AgRural said Monday (Nov 6).

Good weather has helped the planting season along since late September, with sun all day and rain in the evening. By comparison, in the 2005/06 soy crop, 37 percent of the fields were sown by Nov 10, AgRural soy market analyst Fernando Muraro wrote in the report.

Brazil's soy crop was 23 percent planted as of Oct 27.

In the centre-west soybelt, 54 percent of some 8.9 million hectares of soy fields had been planted as of Nov 3. In the northern Mato Grosso town of Sorriso, 90 percent of the crop had been planted. Northern Mato Grosso farmers start planting soybeans in September. Overall, Mato Grosso soy fields are 60 percent planted. Mato Grosso is Brazil's leading soy producing state.

The no. 2 soy producer, Parana, has 50 percent of its expected 4 million hectares planted compared to 32 percent as of Oct 27. The no. 3 producer, Rio Grande do Sul, has 8 percent of its 4 million hectares planted, up from 5 percent as of Oct 27.

AgRural expects Brazil to produce 52.6 million tonnes of soybeans in the 2006/07 season.

Brazil is the no. 2 soy producer and exporter behind the US.