South America Calling

Brazil's soybean harvest was 85% complete as of Friday, ahead of the 78% registered at the same time last year, AgRural, a local farm consultancy, said.

With the harvest complete in the Mato Grosso and the rest of the center-west, the consultancy estimates the crop at 85.6 million metric tons (mmt), which is at the low end of the range of crop forecasts.

Field work is progressing quickly in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul where, despite showers, harvested area jumped from 41% to 65% last week, AgRural said. Collection efforts are well ahead of last year, when just 29% had been harvested at the same point, because dry weather shortened the crop's cycle. In the top producing north of the state, yields are about 18% down on initial expectations at around 40 bushels per acre.

In neighboring Parana, the No. 2 soybean state, the crop is 90% collected, with field efforts concentrated in southern regions. Hot, dry weather at the start of the year hurt crops there, but average yields are still pegged at 50 bushels per acre in Guarapuava, for example.

In the northeastern state of Bahia, rains have been frequent for the last 10 days, but harvesting has still progressed. As of Friday, farmers in the state had harvested 39% of the crop, down from 63% at the same stage last year due to the precipitations. The good news is that yields are averaging at 47 bpa, up by a half on the drought- and pest-hit crop of 2012-13.

(AG)

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