Jan 02, 2020
Early Soybean Harvest under Way in Select Regions of Mato Grosso
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The first order of business in the new year for some Brazilian farmers is to start harvesting their 2019/20 soybeans. The early soybean harvest has started in areas of Mato Grosso where farmers planted very early maturing soybeans (95-day maturity) on September 16th, which was the first day they were allowed to plant after the end of the soybean-free period. These early harvested soybeans will likely be followed by a second crop of cotton or maybe a second crop of corn.
In the municipality of Lucas do Rio Verde, which is located in south-central Mato Grosso, the president of the local Rural Syndicate indicated that the early harvest has started and it will continue until about mid-March. He cautioned that some of the early yields may be somewhat disappointing due to periods of dry weather since the crop was planted.
In many areas of Mato Grosso, the soybean planting was somewhat delayed due to dry weather. As a result, there are currently fewer soybeans ready to harvest in Mato Grosso compared to the start of last January.
While the early soybean harvest has started in parts of Mato Grosso, some farmers in northeastern Brazil are still waiting for enough soil moisture to plant their soybeans or replant fields that had poor plant populations due to dry weather.
Some farmers in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have also been experiencing dryer than normal conditions over the past month. As a result, there are reports of poor plant populations and soybeans suffering moisture stress.
According to the director of Aprosoja, 95% of Brazil's soybeans still need rain to finish off the season. The weather has generally been OK in much of central Brazil, but it has been dryer than normal in northeastern Brazil and in far southern Brazil. Aprosoja estimates that the Brazilian soybean acreage increased 3% in 2019/20 to 37.0 million hectares (91.4 million acres) and that Brazil will produce 123.0 million tons of soybeans in 2019/20.