February 15, 2017

Bigger harvests of Brazil's soybeans amid wet weather in February

In the week before February 13, farmers in central Brazil managed to bring in a bigger harvest – compared to 2016 - for soybeans amid a wet weather, Soybean and Corn Advisor reports.

The northeastern region of Brazil is also experiencing good rain as the weather improves for several weeks. How climatic conditions develop will be critical for the next 30-45 days as the wet season came in time for the critical pod-filling period of soybeans.

Nationwide, the 2016/17 Brazilian soybean crop is now 18-20% harvested, compared to 16% in 2016.

On February 10, the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) reported that 45.8% of the soybeans in Mato Grosso had been harvested, which is up 15% from the previous week. Last year, in the same period, farmers in the state had harvested 25.6% of soybeans.

After a somewhat slow start, the harvest pace in Mato Grosso is now the fastest since Imea began tracking harvest records. Based on the time soybeans are planted, Imea had anticipated that 55% of the soybeans would be harvested by the current period, highlighting a slightly slower harvest than anticipated.

Over the weekend, there were very heavy rains in western Mato Grosso. In the region of Campo Novo do Parecis and Sapezal, some farms received 325mm in 24 hours (13 inches). Widespread flooding is reported in the area, affecting soybeans yet to be harvested as well as newly planted safrinha corn and cotton. The forecast for this week (February 13-19) is heavy rains in the far northern regions of Mato Grosso and scattered showers in central and southern Mato Grosso. The harvest pace varies with different areas in Mato Grosso. Limited harvesting in the northern part of the state may occur while some harvest progress could happen in the southern region, Soybean and Corn Advisor says.

Soybean yields in Mato Grosso continue to be very good with only an occasional report of lower quality soybeans. Conab is estimating that the statewide yield will be 3,277 kg/ha (47.5 bu/ac), which is 15.1% greater than last year's yield of 2,848 kg/ha (41.2 bu/ac). If confirmed, Mato Grosso's soybean production of 30.34 million tonnes would represent 28.7% of Brazil's total soybean crop.

Parana is the major state in Brazil that is furthest behind in soybean harvest. The Department of Rural Economics (Deral) reported late last week that 6% of the soybeans in the state had been harvested compared to 17% last year. Cold temperatures earlier in the growing season had delayed the growth of the soybean crop. Yields are expected to be good with only minor instances of poor quality seed. Over the weekend, there were scattered showers on southern Brazil with more rain in the forecast for this week.

In Rio Grande do Sul, less than 1% of the soybeans have been harvested. In addition, these are early maturing soybeans that were planted in the northwestern region of the state. A few early yields are being reported to be 50 sacks per hectare or 43.5 bu/ac. The crop in Rio Grande do Sul is 10% mature, 44% filling pods, 30% flowering, and 15% in vegetative development.

- Soybean and Corn Advisor