Brazil gets head start on winter corn sowing

Hot and dry weather in recent weeks has allowed some Brazilian farmers to harvest their soybeans and plant their winter corn crop earlier than expected, Bloomberg reported, citing Cooperativa Agropecuaria e Industrial Celeiro do Norte, the top farmer cooperative in the key producing state of Mato Grosso.

With Brazil’s winter corn planting off to one of its earliest starts on record, some concerns have been eased about the ability of farmers to sow a sizable crop this season. The delayed planting of soybeans had driven expectations that farmers might run out of time to cultivate their winter corn crop.

Brazilian farmers usually plant soybeans in September and October and harvest from January to March. As soon as soybeans are harvested, farmers often plant the safrinha, or winter corn crop, which starts to be collected in May.

“This corn crop will be advanced,” Leandro Bianchini, a commercial supervisor at Cooperativa Agropecuaria e Industrial Celeiro do Norte, told Bloomberg, noting the earlier-than-anticipated soybean harvest.

The earlier soybean harvest comes despite the region experiencing the latest plantings since the 2015-16 season, according to Mato Grosso’s Rural Economy Institute. About 80% of soybeans had been planted as of early November — considered the ideal sowing window — down from 93% in the same period a year earlier, the institute said.

Still, part of the soybean crop will unlikely be harvested in time to be replaced with corn. Some farmers also plan to cut down on planting and reduce fertilizer usage to reduce costs following yield losses from their oilseed crops, according to Bianchini. Both would limit the region’s potential winter corn crop harvest.

Tags: harvest, planting, Brazil, weather, soybeans, winter corn crop