Jan 27, 2020
Optimistic Mood at Brazil's first Big Farm Show of the Season
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
According to the Agricultural Cooperatives of Western Parana (Coopaval), their farmer members are preparing to harvest a very good soybean crop. In the better areas, soybean yields are expected to be in the range of 75 sacks per hectare (66.6 bu/ac), which is a big improvement over last year's drought impacted crop.
Farmers are in an optimistic mood and so is Coopaval that will host the 32nd Edition of Show Rural in the city of Cascavel in western Parana from February 3 to 7. This is the first big farm show of the season in Brazil and exhibitors are expecting farmers to be in a spending mood. The show is expected to draw 250,000 visitors and 650 exhibitors.
At last year's show, exhibitors sold R$ 2.2 billion worth of products and they are expecting sales to be up 10% at this year's show. Official loan programs from the government for machinery purchases carry an interest rate of 8.5% with 7 years to pay off the loan and manufactures are expecting to offer even more favorable terms to buyers.
The President of Coopaval is very optimistic concerning the future of Brazilian agriculture. He feels that over the next ten years Brazil's row crop acreage will go from 7% of Brazil's total land area to 14% and that grain production in Brazil will nearly double to 500 million tons, and all that will be accomplished without advancing grain production into the Amazon Region.
The increased production will result from increased productivity through the use of innovative technology, improved genetics, improved inputs, as well as the conversion of pastures and cerrado into row crop production. He anticipates that Brazil's agricultural exports will increase 30-40% by the year 2030.