Sep 05, 2019
Farmers in Parana should be the First to Plant Soybeans in Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in the state of Parana will be the first farmers allowed to start planting their 2019/20 soybeans beginning on September 11th. The soybean-free period in the state, which started on June 10th will end on September 10th. The soybean planting window in the state will start on September 11th and planting must be completed by December 31st. A second crop of soybeans planted in the same field during the same growing season is expressly prohibited.
This ridged planting window was put in place to help control the spread of soybean rust from on growing season to the next. It has worked quite well over the years by reducing the number of fungicide application necessary to control the disease.
According to the Department of Rural Economics (Deral), the soybean acreage in the state should increase by 30,000 hectares in 2019/20 to 5.9 million hectares.
Farmers in the state are relatively optimistic concerning their 2019/20 soybean production and the current price for soybeans of R$ 75.00 per sack (approximately $8.31 per bushel) should encourage farmers to plant more soybeans at the expense of full-season corn. The Brazilian real continues to weaken compared to the dollar and it is currenty trading at approximately 4.12 to the dollar. The weaker currency is good news for Brazilian farmers who conduct their business in reals. Conversely, it is not good news for farmers who conduct their business in dollars.
According to Deral, soybeans are responsible for 82% of the first crop acreage in Parana since most of the corn produced in Parana is now planted as the safrinha crop following soybeans.
The 2019/20 soybean production in Parana is expected to be much better than last year's crop that was negatively impacted by dry weather from late November until early January, which was when the soybeans were filling pods. In some areas of the state, the soybean yields were reduced by 35-40% due to the severe drought.