Sep 04, 2013

Mato Grosso Farmers Produce Two Record Corn Crops in a Row

Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.

For the last two years, farmers in Mato Grosso who planted safrinha corn have been very pleased with their yields, so much so that they have continued to increase their safrinha corn acreage at a brisk pace.

According to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), the 2013 statewide corn yield in the state is now estimated at 102 sacks per hectare or 94 bu/ac, which marks the second year in a row of record corn yields in the state. Fifty one percent of the farmers in the state reported corn yields of 100 to 120 sacks per hectare or higher (92 to 111 bu/ac) and 49% are reported yields between 80 to 100 sacks per hectare or less (74 to 92 bu/ac). The last two years have seen record corn yields in Mato Grosso, whereas the three years prior to that, the statewide corn yield did not surpass 80 sacks per hectare or 74 bu/ac.

Imea estimates that 45% of the soybeans in the state were followed by a second crop of corn, but the percentage was higher in the central regions of the state where 58% of the soybeans were followed by a second crop of corn. In some municipalities, the percentage is as high as 80%. This a significant increase over three years ago when 32% of the state's soybeans were followed by a second crop of corn.