February 3, 2009

Brazil's main soy growing areas will receive rain this week, local weather service Somar said Monday (February 2).

Mato Grosso, the No. 1 soy producing state, has been receiving steady rain for the last week and this will continue for at least the next 15 days, said Celso Oliveira, a meteorologist at Somar.

Between 30 millimetres and 50 millimetres of accumulated rain should fall across most soy areas this week in Mato Grosso, according to Somar.

"The rains should help dry areas, especially in the south of the state," said Fernando Muraro, an analyst at consultancy AgRural.

The rainfall is slightly below normal in Mato Grosso at this time of year, but overall bodes well for the crop, Muraro said.

The rainfall follows a relatively dry spell in the first three weeks of January, where some isolated areas started to worry about a lack of rain.

Mato Grosso is traditionally the first state to harvest soy. Around 10 percent of Mato Grosso's soy areas have already been harvested by January 30, compared to the national average of around 3 percent, according to AgRural.

Steve Cachia of agricultural consultancy Cerealpar agreed that the rain should help soy farmers in Mato Grosso, especially in some areas where dry weather had been a problem.

"Some of the early harvests could have been delayed due to the rain, but farmers haven't been complaining," Cachia said.

Farmers, moreover, are reporting that early soy yields have been good at around 2,950 kilos per hectare and stays close previous average of around 3,000 kilos per hectare, he said. "This is positive considering that farmers used less fertilizer this (crop) season," said Cachia.