Jan 05, 2021
A Few Early Soybeans Harvested in Mato Grosso Last Week
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
A few isolated fields of soybeans on a Grupo Maggi farm in the municipality of Sapezal in western Mato Grosso were harvested in the middle of last week. The 850 hectares of soybeans (2,000 acres) that were harvested were early maturing soybeans with a 95-day maturity that were planted September 20th. The weather during the growing season has been irregular with erratic rains and as a result, yields are disappointing. The yields of some of these early soybeans were down at least 20 sacks per hectare (18 bu/ac) from initial expectations.
This is a big safrinha cotton producing farm and they started planting safrinha cotton the same day the soybeans were harvested. The farm planted a total of 32,000 hectares of soybeans (79,040 acres) in 2020/21. It has been reported that some farmers in the region actually destroyed their soybean crop because it was not worth harvesting and they planted cotton instead.
The main soybean harvest in Mato Grosso will start about January 15th and pick up speed in early February. The soybean harvest in Mato Grosso usually starts in early January and proceeds until about the end of February, but this year, it will be concentrated during the month of February due to the delayed planting.