December 7, 2010

Brazilian soy crops to benefit from rains in South

Brazilian soy crops will benefit from rains in the country's Southern states this month after dry weather in November, said a forecaster for Somar Metereologia, Paulo Etchichury.

More than 100 millimetres of rain fell in the West of Santa Catarina and the West of Parana in the first five days of December. The southern Brazilian states of Parana, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul account for 37% of Brazil's soy output.

A cold weather front in the first part of December in the Southeast region and dampness in the Amazon rainforest will lead to rains in the Southeast, Center West and Northeast, favoring the development of other summer crops, according to Somar.

The South of Rio Grande do Sul still lacks rains due to the La Nina weather pattern, which may make dryness even worse next week, according to Etchichury. La Nina is a global weather pattern caused by cooling equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean that leads to dry weather.

Soy growers in Brazil, the world's largest producer after the US will reap between 67.7-69 million tonnes in the season that starts in January, compared with 68.7 million tonnes this year, the Agriculture Ministry's crop forecasting agency said.