Nov 23, 2020
Soybeans are Planted Early in State of Bahia in Northeastern Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Soybeans in northeastern Brazil are usually some of the latest planted soybeans in Brazil, but the summer rains started early this year in northeastern Brazil and so too did the soybean planting in the state of Bahia, which is the largest soybean planting state in northeastern Brazil. According to estimates from the Irrigated Farmers Association of Bahia (Aiba), all the irrigated soybeans in Bahia have been planted and 70% of the dryland soybeans have been planted.
Farmers are encouraged by the early start and the abundant rainfall and they are anticipating a record soybean acreage and a record soybean production in 2020/21. Bahia is the second largest cotton producing state in Brazil and according to Aiba, farmers in the state reduced their cotton acreage by 15% due to mediocre prices and they switched some of their cotton acreage to soybeans and corn. They estimate that the soybean acreage in the state will increase 5% and the corn acreage will increase 6%. The 2020/21 soybean acreage in Bahia is expected to increase 80,000 hectares (1,976,000 acres)...
If the rainfall distribution is good during the growing season, Aiba is estimating the 2020/21 soybean yield at 66 sacks per hectare (59 bu/ac) and the total production of 6.7 million tons, which would represent an increase of 12% compared to last year.
Domestic soybean prices in Brazil have declined slightly in recent weeks, but they are still near record high levels and in many cases, double the price of last year at this time. The devaluation of the Brazilian currency and strong demand from China has led to a very tight domestic carryover supply of Brazilian soybeans. So tight in fact, that Brazil will import some soybeans from the United States to bridge the gap until the new crop is harvested starting in late January.