Jan 12, 2016
20% of the Cotton Acreage in Mato Grosso has been Planted
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Dry weather during December and the relatively slow start to the soybean harvest in Mato Grosso is slowing down the early cotton planting in the state as well. The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimates that 20% of the anticipated cotton acreage in the state has been planted, which is slower than the 33% that was planted last year at this time.
Farmers in the state were allowed to start planting their full-season cotton starting on December 1st, but dry conditions in parts of the state forced farmers to wait to plant until more abundant rain started to fall during the last week of December. Approximately 25% of the cotton in the state is full-season while 75% of the cotton is planted as a second crop after the soybeans hare harvested. The start of the planting of the safrinha cotton was also delayed due to the delayed start of the soybean harvest.
The 2015/16 cotton acreage in Mato Grosso is estimated at 576,000 hectares or 2.2% more than last year. Even with the increase, the cotton acreage in the state is still approximately 10% lower than the 645,900 hectares planted two years ago.
The farmers in southeastern Mato Grosso are expected to plant approximately 42% of all the cotton in the state, but farmers have only managed to plant 36% of their cotton compared to 48% that had been planted last year at this time.