May 07, 2021
Soy Harvest nearly Complete in Rio Grande do Sul, Good Yields
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul are generally the latest to plant and harvest their soybeans. Soybean planting for the 2020/21 growing season was later than normal due to dry weather and farmers are now finishing their soybean harvest.
After a challenging start to the season, the weather improved in January and stayed beneficial for the remainder of the growing season. As a result, farmers are generally reporting soybean yields better than expected.
The vice president of the Soybean and Corn Producers Association of Rio Grande do Sul (Aprosja-RS) is estimating the statewide soybean yield at 57 sacks per hectare (50.9 bu/ac) with the best fields yielding as high as 80 to 90 sacks per hectare (71.5 to 80 bu/ac). During the 2019/20 growing season, the state suffered a severe drought and soybean yields declined to near 30 sacks per hectare (26.8 bu/ac).
Farmers in the state had forward contracted the least amount of soybeans of any major soybean producing state in Brazil before the 2020/21 season began, which turned out to be the right thing to do. Before the season started, the price of soybeans was less than R$ 100 per sack (approximately $8.25 per bushel). The current price of soybeans is in the range of R$ 160 per sack (approximately $13.25 per bushel). So, farmers in the state should have hefty profit margins with good yields and good prices.
The better than expected soybean yields in Rio Grande do Sul will propel the state into second place behind Mato Grosso for soybean production in Brazil edging out the state of Parana where yields were negatively impacted by dry weather.
With the soybean harvest nearly complete, farmers in the state will start planting their winter wheat. Farmers are very animated due to the high wheat prices and they are expected to increase their wheat acreage.