Feb 19, 2020

Brazilian Farmers Planting Safrinha Corn after Soybean Harvest

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

Approximately 74% of Brazil's total 2019/20 corn production will be safrinha corn planted after the first crop of soybeans are harvested. Brazilian farmers have harvested approximately 30% of their soybeans and they are actively planting their safrinha corn.

Parana full-season corn - According to Deral, the full-season corn in Parana is 46% mature and 13% harvested. Early yields indicate average corn yields.

Rio Grande do Sul full-season corn - Emater reported that the full-season corn in the state was 43% harvested. The earlier planted corn is doing better than the later planted corn and the corn in the northern part of the state is better than the corn in the southern part of the state. Some estimates have the corn yields down 20-30% from initial estimates. As a result of the reduced full-season corn production, local corn prices are 30-40% higher than last year.

Mato Grosso safrinha corn - The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) reported that 63.1% of the intended safrinha corn acreage had been planted by late last week compared to 74.2% last year and 52.1% average. This represents an advance of 24% for the week, which is a very good week of planting. There were concerns that wet weather might delay some of the safrinha corn planting in the state, but I think this is yet another illustration of how Brazilian farmers are able to work around the scattered showers that have been occurring in the state. I would estimate that approximately 90% of the safrinha corn in Mato Grosso will be planted within the ideal planting window.

Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana safrinha corn - Planting of the safrinha corn in these two states is just getting underway and as a result, a significant portion of the corn will be planted at the very end of the planting window. The safrinha corn in Parana was 14% planted earlier last week. The late planted safrinha corn runs a high risk of lower yields because it will be pollinating and filling grain during May and June when there is a possibility of dry weather and frost.

My breakdown for the 2019/20 Brazilian corn crop is as follows: