Apr 26, 2016
2015/16 Will be Last Safrinha Soybean Crop in Parana
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazilian scientists have long complained that planting two crops of soybeans back-to-back during the same growing season makes it much more difficult to control soybean rust during the following growing season. The rust spores generally die if they do not have a host plant for a period of 60 days, but with safrinha soybeans, the time gap between the harvest of the safrinha soybeans and the planting of the next crop can be less than 60 days, thus allowing rust spores to transition from one growing season to the next growing season.
The scientists have been pressuring the government of Parana to prohibit safrinha soybean production and they eventually won the argument. Starting with the 2016/17 growing season, the state of Parana will join with the state of Mato Grosso and prohibit farmers from planting a second crop of soybeans during the same growing season. When farmers in Parana plant their 2016/17 soybeans, the official planting window will be between September 16th and December 31st.
Farmers in Parana decided to take advantage of the strong soybean price and they increased their safrinha soybean acreage in 2015/16 by 23% to 173,000 hectares. The safrinha soybean crop in Parana is expected to produce 364,000 tons, or 19% more than the previous year.
Without the possibility of planting a second crop of soybeans, farmers in Parana are expected to convert those acres to safrinha corn instead. In fact, the domestic price for corn in Brazil is very high and farmers would probably been better off financially had they planted corn instead of soybeans this growing season.