Rainfall in Brazil boosts soybean and corn planting as farmers increase soybean acreage

Brazilian farmers are stepping up planting of soybeans and corn in anticipation of the rainy season, but delayed rains in central regions could lead farmers to increase soybean acreage instead of corn, especially amid better prices.

In central Brazil, there are occasional downpours, but not as heavy as in the south, where excessive rains have led to floods that could damage the quality and yield of winter wheat.

According to the AgRural agency, as of October 5, 10.1% of the planned area (+4.8% for the week) was planted with soybeans in Brazil, which is ahead of last year's 9.6%, but inferior to the record figures of 2016/17 MR, when at this time 10.7% of the area was sown.

Sowing is most active in the state of Parana, where heavy rains delayed work last week. In the state of Mato Grosso, the rains are still very irregular. In addition, in the three southern states of the country, sowing of the first crop of corn is almost complete.

Conab agency predicts that in 2023/24, Brazilian farmers will harvest a record 162 million tons of soybeans, which will be 4.8% higher than the previous season's harvest, as soybean acreage will grow by 2.5% from 44 to 45.1 million hectares.

At the same time, the corn harvest will decrease by 9.5% compared to the 2022/23 MR to 119.404 million tons against the background of a decrease in productivity due to the El Niño weather phenomenon and a reduction in the area of corn sowing of the first crop by 6.7% and the second - by 4.5% .

According to Conab experts, the export of soybeans from Brazil in 2024 may reach 102.14 million tons.