October 19, 2006

 

Brazil's Rio Grande Do Sul 2006 wheat loss estimated at 50 percent 

 

 

Brazil's no. 2 wheat-producing state, Rio Grande do Sul, lost 50 percent of its 2006 winter wheat crop to an early September cold snap, Odilone Soares DaCosta of the state's Rural Assistance Agency, or Emater, said Wednesday (Oct 18).

 

"This crop is 50 percent gone, or close to it," DaCosta said.

 

In late September, Emater expected losses closer to 22 percent with yields falling to 1,300 kilogrammes per hectare compared to 1,722 kg at the start of the planting season. Rio Grande do Sul farmers will be harvesting wheat until November.

 

Estimates now are for yields closer to 1,022 kg per hectare with total production at 708,365 tonnes, Emater said in its most recent crop report.

 

Parana, the leading wheat producer, expects a 46 percent reduction in the 2006 winter wheat crop, said Paulo Meira, head of the rural economic department at the state's Secretary of Agriculture.

 

"We started off the planting season reducing area because of dry weather, and then late season frosts reduced the crop even more," Meira said. Parana total wheat crop production should be around 1.2 million tonnes compared to earlier estimates of 2.2 million tonnes.

 

Parana and Rio Grande do Sul make up 84 percent of Brazil's wheat output, according to Otmar Hubner, a wheat specialist at the Parana Secretary of Agriculture.

 

Official forecasts are for Brazil to harvest 2.4 million tonnes of wheat opposed to the 4.8 million tonnes originally expected.

 

"That number could fall lower on Rio Grande do Sul's announcement. This crop is still not guaranteed," Hubner said.

 

On Oct 10, the president of the National Commodities Supply Corp, Jacinto Ferreira, told the local press that Brazil would need to import 7.8 million tonnes of wheat in 2007, roughly 2 million tonnes more than in 2006. Brazil consumes 10.5 million tonnes of wheat on average each year and does not have any significant wheat stocks, according to Luis Quimelli, head broker at Agricampo, a wheat trader in Parana.

 

Brazil gets most of its wheat supply from Argentina, but a reduction in the crop there will likely lead Brazil to look elsewhere to fill possible Argentine supply constraints. Ferreira said Brazil would import wheat from Canada.

 

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