Dec 04, 2019
2019/20 Full-Season Corn in Brazil OK, Safrinha to be Determined
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The weather has generally been OK for the full-season corn in southern Brazil. There are still a few pockets of dryness in Mato Grosso do Sul, but there are showers forecasted for the state in the coming days.
The states of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul are the main full-season corn producing states in Brazil. After a slow start to the summer rains in Minas Gerais, the weather over the last several weeks has been very favorable for the corn in the state. In Rio Grande do Sul, the full-season corn is 86% planted, which is slightly slower than last year. The corn is 58% in vegetative development, 22% pollinating, and 20% filling grain.
In the state of Parana, the full-season corn is 100% planted and the crop is rated 10% average and 90% good. The corn is 77% in vegetative development, 20% pollinating, and 1% filling grain.
Domestic corn prices in Brazil are strong, which bodes well for the safrinha corn that will be planted in January and February. There are concerns about late planting of the safrinha corn especially in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, Sao Paulo, and Goias. On the other hand, corn prices are very attractive and if the weather cooperates, farmers are expected to plant as much corn as possible and they might even stretch the safrinha corn planting past the "drop dead" date of early March.
The safrinha corn crop will account for over 70% of Brazil's total corn production. Conab will not issue their first official estimate of the 2019/20 safrinha corn acreage until their February Crop Report.