May 07, 2020
Imea Estimates Mato Grosso will surpass 10 mha of Soy in 2020/21
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
In their first assessment of the 2020/21 soybean crop in Mato Grosso, the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimated that farmers in the state would increase their soybean acreage by 2.26% to 10.07 million hectares (24.8 million acres). This compares to 9.85 million hectares in 2019/20 (24.3 million acres) and 9.67 million hectares in 2018/19 (23.8 million acres).
Imea stated various reasons why they think farmers in the state will increase their soybean acreage in 2020/21 including: record soybean yields in 2019/20, record soybean prices for both 2019/20 and 2020/21, a record fast pace of forward contracting of the 2020/21 soybean crop and input purchases, and improved logistics especially heading north to Brazil's "Northern Arc" of ports.
Most of the expansion is expected to be the result of the conversion of degraded pastures to row crop production. The biggest percentage increase in soybean acreage is expected in traditional cattle ranching areas of the state.
Imea estimated that the statewide soybean yields would decline 2.83% in 2020/21 to 57.48 sacks per hectare (51.0 bu/ac) compared to the record high yields of 59.16 sacks per hectare (52.5 bu/ac) achieved in 2019/20. The total soybean production in in Mato Grosso in 2020/21 is estimated at 34.7 million tons, which is just slightly less than the 34.96 million tons produced in 2019/20.