Farmers in Parana May Switch Some Safrinha Corn to Wheat

Improved harvest weather allowed the soybean harvest in Parana to reach 77% as of earlier this week according to the Department of Rural Economics (Deral). This represents an advance of 17% for the week, which is a good harvest week. Up until this point, the soybean harvest progress has been slow in Parana, but if the weather cooperates for another week, the soybean harvest could approach completion at about the normal time. Parana is the second largest soybean producing state in Brazil after Mato Grosso.

Safrinha corn is planted after the soybeans are harvested and the safrinha corn planting in the state was 93% complete earlier this week. This represents an advance of 16% for the week. The ideal planting window for safrinha corn in the state closed several weeks ago and farmers will probably not risk planting any more safrinha corn. Later planted safrinha corn has an increased risk of dry weather and potential frost before the crop has a chance to mature.

In the areas where the safrinha corn has not been planted, farmers may opt to plant winter wheat instead, which is usually planted in May and June. Deral had originally anticipated that farmers in the state would plant 2.63 million hectares of safrinha corn (6.49 million acres), but that goal may not be reached due to the delayed planting.

The state of Parana is one of the two largest wheat producing states in Brazil along with Rio Grande do Sul. Together, these two states produce about 90% of Brazil’s wheat.

Tags: harvest, planting, weather, winter wheat, soybean, safrinha corn, Parana