South America Calling

Brazil's Center-West, Southeast Soy Farmers Wait For Rain

After a couple of weeks of irregular showers, Brazilian farmers in the top-producing Center-West and neighboring Southeast are uneasily waiting for rain.

With crops variously in flowering and pod-filling stages, heavier precipitation is vital.

Thankfully, weather forecasts indicate the atmospheric block that has stopped rain-carrying weather systems from passing over the region may finally be pierced this week.

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A cold front will move through the regions from Jan. 22, bringing substantial rains and lower temperatures, according to Marco Antonio dos Santos, a meteorologist at the local Somar weather service.

Not only has rainfall been below average across most of the Center-West soy belt in January, temperatures have been high.

Soybean harvesting is moving forward in Mato Grosso, reaching 4.1% as of Friday, up two percentage points on the week before, according to the Mato Grosso Agricultural Economy Institute.

Average yields up to now have been a respectable 48 bushels per acre.

Elsewhere, in Parana and Goias, harvesting is about 1% complete. In Goias and the north of Parana more rainfall is needed. However, in the rest of Parana, the No. 2 soy state, and Rio Grande do Sul, the No. 3 soy state, soil moisture levels are high.

The situation in Bahia and Piaui in the northeast is also pretty dry, without the same forecasts of heavy rain made for Mato Grosso over the next week.

(CZ)

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