South America Calling

Brazil's Minas, East Goias Soy Hurt By Dry January

During the second half of my week-long trip along the eastern reaches of Brazil's Cerrado soybean belt with the Rally da Safra crop tour, I visited Minas Gerais and eastern Goias.

These are relatively small, but growing, soybean region as the oilseed replaces pasture on the plateaus.

This region suffered some of the longest dry spells during the infamous dry spell that hit Cerrado soybeans during January.

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"This region, with its less established crops and dry weather, has some of the worst crops in Brazil," said Fabio Meneghin, director of Agroconsult, the farm analytics group that runs the Rally da Safra.

In Unai, northwestern Minas Gerais, crops suffered up to 45 days of dryness.

As a result, farmers in the region are expecting an average yield of 45 bushels per acre, according to Joao Carlos Ferrigolo, president of the Coagril cooperative in Unai.

"It was the driest January in 101 years in Unai. The crops are only not disastrous because only a small percentage was going through productive phases," he said.

According to Meneghin, the poorer crops may weigh on Agroconsult's forecasts for Minas Gerais and Goias, where it is currently forecasting average yields of 40 bushels per acre.

Still, driving through the state and Goias, the Rally da Safra also saw some decent, long-cycle crops and plenty of irrigation.

Like much of the east of the Cerrado soy belt, crops are irregular.

(CZ)

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