Crop production and acreage in Brazil continue to grow at record rates

According to the latest forecast from the National Supply Company (Conab), released on January 15, the total production of agricultural crops in Brazil in the 2025/26 MY, despite minor fluctuations in individual crops, remains at a record level.

Thus, the area sown with 16 main agricultural crops will increase by 2.1 million hectares to 83.9 million hectares compared to the previous season, and their yield will increase by 987 thousand tons to 353.1 million tons. In particular, the area under soybeans, the country's main agricultural crop and main export commodity, will increase by 2.8% from 47.4 to 48.7 million hectares, and its yield will increase by 2.7% or 4.6 million tons to 176.1 million tons.

“Despite the increase in production and planted area, grain yields remained stable, with a slight negative fluctuation of 0.1%, due to uneven rainfall, which was lower than expected in the regions of Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as the physical limitations of sandy soils in some areas of Goiás, despite the projected increase in yields in Rio Grande do Sul this season,” Conab said.

According to the agency's forecasts, corn production in Brazil in the 2025/26 MY will decrease by 1.5% compared to the previous year, from 141 to 138.9 million tons, although the sowing area will increase by 4% to 22.8 million hectares. The reason will be climatic phenomena such as storms, hail, low and high temperatures, and dry periods in the southern region of the country.

The area sown with sorghum, another rapidly growing crop, will also increase from 1.6 to 1.8 million hectares in the 2025/26 MY compared to last year, and production will increase from 6.1 to 6.7 million tons.

Due to a reduction in rice sowing area by 9.9% compared to last year to 1.6 million hectares, its harvest will decrease by 6.6% to 11.1 million tons.

The harvest of the 2025 wheat crop, the main winter crop, has been completed, with production reaching 7.9 million tons, which corresponds to the 2024 figure. Despite a 20% reduction in sown areas compared to the previous year, the result was very good, as favorable weather led to an increase in yields.