Sep 18, 2023
Brazil's Minister of Agriculture Alters Soybean Planting Schedule
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
On July 7, 2023, the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture announced a shortened planting window for soybeans in an effort to help control soybean rust disease. The planting window was generally put at 100 days. Since then, there has been a lot of pushback from producers who complained that their cropping decisions had already been made and the shortened window would negatively impact their operations. The Minister took their complaints into consideration and modified the soybean planting window for several states.
In the state of Parana, the original 100-day planting window was September 11, 2023 to December 19, 2023. Various farm organizations in the state asked for the window to remain at 140 days like it was in 2022/23. The Minister divided the state into three regions and allowed the window to be extended to 120 days for two regions from September 11, 2023 to January 9, 2024. The planting window in the third region remained at 100 days. The longer window will allow a second crop of soybeans to be planted after the first crop of corn is harvested.
In the state of Santa Catarina, the original soybean planting window was September 21, 2023 to December 29, 2023. For western and southern Santa Catarina, the new planting window is from October 2, 2023 to January 30, 2024. This will allow farmers to plant a second crop of soybeans after corn is harvested. This is particularly important for dairy farmers who harvest much of their corn as silage.
In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the soybean planting window was also extended to 120 days to allow for a second crop of soybeans following the corn harvest. The original planting window had been October 1, 2023 to January 8, 2024.
The Minister also gave permission for a limited number of farmers in Mato Grosso to start planting soybeans on September 1st instead of the usual September 16th. These are farmers who wanted to plant their soybeans early to allow more time to plant a second crop of soybeans.