|
Jesup, IA | Sat, help me through this one. The DTN columnist below says low dollar prices for soybeans are holding back plantings. I've been to Brazil twice, and I know a lot of the trade is done in dollars. So is the falling Real not as much of an incentive as thought, or is this just wishful thinking? You have often commented that financial conditions should be spurring more planting. So? In any event, it sounds dry down there.
Brazil Soy Planting Starts
Farmers Await Rain in Largest Soy State
Alastair Stewart South America Correspondent
Bio | Email | Blog
Mon Sep 28, 2015 01:44 PM CDT
SAO PAULO, Brazil (DTN) -- Soybean planting in Brazil has gotten off to a quick start in the southern state of Parana but has been sluggish in Mato Grosso -- the main soy state -- as farmers await rain.
DTN file photo of Brazilian soybean producer Silvio Wegener preparing to start soybean planting. This year planting is off to a quick start in the southern state of Parana. (DTN photo by Alastair Stewart)
Generally speaking, Brazil soybean planting sweeps from north to south. However, in recent years it is actually the southern state of Parana that gets off to the quickest start. So it has been at the start of the 2015-16 season as well.
Hot, dry weather in Mato Grosso and the rest of the northern Cerrado states means few farmers started fieldwork once the official planting window opened on September 15.
Amid rising costs and low soybean prices (in dollars), few growers in Mato Grosso have been willing to plant until consistent spring showers return, noted AgRural, a local farm consultancy.
In contrast, farmers in western Parana have been planting ahead of expected heavy showers in the rest of September and early October. As a result, planting is already 10% complete across the state, ahead of the 7% planted at the same stage last year, while in Mato Grosso only 0.3% of area has been planted, compared to 1.6% last year, according to an AgRural forecast.
Overall, Brazil's soybean crop was 1.7% planted as of Friday, slightly down from 1.6% at this time last year.
Sparse rainfall, high temperatures and low soil moisture mean planting in Mato Grosso has been limited to those who plan to plant cotton after the soybeans, noted AgRural.
That situation will likely continue over the next week with farmers mindful that last year those who planted early for double cropping saw crops suffer through a dry October.
In contrast, planting is going full speed ahead in Cascavel and other parts of western Parana.
AgRural forecast Brazilian soybean planted area will rise 2.7% to 81 million acres and output will increase 3.4% to 99.4 million metric tons.
Alastair Stewart can be reached at [email protected] | |
|
Question for Sat on Brazil Soy Plantings
