December 26, 2005
Soy planting ends in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul
Farmers in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul finished planting their 2005/06 crop this week, the Agencia Estado Newswire reported Friday.
The Rio Grande do Sul Rural Technical Assistance Association (Emater), said 98 percent of the crop is in its germination and vegetative development stage.
Two percent of the crop has been affected by below-average rainfall, Emater agronomists said, but they noted the majority of the crop is developing well. Emater was closed for the holidays on Friday.
A branch of Brazil's National Meteorological Institute in Porto Alegre, the state's capital, said on Dec 21 that soy farmers can expect normal rainfall between January and March.
On Friday, state agro-meteorologists said the same thing regarding rainfall in that three-month period, adding that the southern part of the state would be affected by a rain deficit this year. The majority of Rio Grande do Sul soy farms are in the northern half of the state.
Rio Grande do Sul is Brazil's third-largest soy-producing state. Emater estimates soy farmers there will harvest 7.6 million tonnes in 2005/06, compared with under 3 million tonnes last year. Rio Grande do Sul farmers lost 75 percent of their crop due to drought.