November 16, 2020

AgRural analyst says Brazil won't have bumper soybean harvest due to drought

Fernando Muraro, an analyst with AgRural, an agribusiness consultancy said a bumper soybean harvest for the 2020 / 2021 season is not on the cards for Mato Grosso state, Brazil's biggest grain state due to irregular rains, Reuters reported.

Muraro said the yields and volumes when the soybeans are ready to harvest next year are in doubt because of the irregular rains. The Brazilian government said Mato Grosso state is set to harvest 37 million tonnes of soybeans in 2021, with the entire country projected to harvest 135 million tonnes, a new record.

Muraro declined to elaborate why Brazil will not experience a record harvest, but said farmers were forced to replant seeds in the Campo Novo do Parecis and Diamantino areas, west of the state, while the climate situation is improving in towns along the BR-163 highway in the middle of Mato Grosso.

He said the state is unusually dry, adding that it is an atypical year for the crop.

Imea, the privately-owned Mato Grosso research agency, said a September drought has caused planting delays Mato Grosso and other regions in the country. Sowing has covered 94% of the estimated area in the state.

Terra Santa Agro, a listed agricultural company said to investors that uncertainty about the weather has meant the company had to reduce its total planting area from 149,500 hectares to 130,200 hectares.

Muraro said planting is heavily delayed in Parana state, the second largest soybean producer in the country.

-      Reuters