South America Calling

Recent rains have delayed early harvesting of second-crop corn in Brazil's Mato Grosso.

Field work has been pushed back a couple of weeks across the state, especially in the southeast. But efforts still remain slightly ahead of last year.

As of Friday, the corn harvest was 5.2% complete in Mato Grosso, compared with 4.3% at the same time last year, said the Mato Grosso Agricultural Economy Institute (IMEA).

Early yields have been fairly strong, reaching 90 bushels per hectare. That's down 5% on the average from last year, but nearly 10% higher than forecast for the crop in the state.

Farmers have already harvested 885,000 metric tons of corn, and that is putting pressure on local prices. The price of corn dropped 11.5% last week across Mato Grosso to an average of R$14.56 per 60-kilogram bag ($2.77 per bushel), while the futures price on the BM&F exchange in Sao Paulo dropped just 1.7% to R$25.06 per bag.

IMEA forecasts Mato Grosso will produce 15.4 million metric tons (mmt) of corn in 2013-14, down 32% on the year before.

Output is seen falling because of a 19% decline in area to 7.4 million acres and late planting due to excessive early season showers.

(AG)

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