South America Calling

AgRural, a local farm consultancy, lowered its 2013-14 Brazilian soybean crop view by 1 million metric tons (mmt) to 86.0 mmt in the latest in a long line of forecast revisions following disappointing late-season weather.

The reductions come after dry January and February weather in the states of Parana, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goias.

AgRural's figure is at the low end of crop estimates, which range from 86 mmt to 90 mmt.

In Parana, the No. 2 soybean state, dry weather in January and the first half of February led to losses in the south and southeast, which has seen production grow in recent years.

Drought hit soybeans even harder in the southeast, where yields of 27 to 36 bushels per acre have been common in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerias.

Goias encountered similar problems, and although early planted beans registered average yields of 47 bpa, the later-planted and longer-cycle beans registered just 36 bpa.

Despite problems with excessive rain, AgRural chose to maintain its forecasts for Mato Grosso, Brazil's No. 1 soy state.

Rainy conditions continue to hamper harvesting in Mato Grosso, but fieldwork still progressed 14 percentage points last week, said AgRural.

As of Friday, Mato Grosso farmers had harvested 73% of their crop, slightly behind the 75% harvested at the same stage last year, the consultancy said.

In Brazil as a whole, the harvest moved forward 10 points to 49%, slightly ahead of the 46% registered at the same time last year.

(AG)

© Copyright 2014 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.