Brazilian soybean farmers had planted an estimated 35.8% of their fields through Friday, according to agribusiness consultancy Safras & Mercado, which said good weather was helping growers sow their beans faster than last year.
Brazil’s soybean production is estimated to grow by 2.5% to almost 141 million tonnes in 2021/2022, driven by a rise in the planted area to close to 40 million hectares (98.8 million acres), according to government projections.
At this point last season, soy planting was at half this season’s level, as rains were slow to come.
Historically, Brazilian farmers would have planted about 27% of their soy fields at this juncture, according to Safras & Mercado data.
In large growing states like Mato Grosso and Paraná, farmers had sowed 69% and 41% of fields respectively, Safras said on Monday.
A second consultancy, AgRural, estimated some 38% of Brazil’s soy area had been planted through last Thursday, a separate Monday statement showed.
That is the fastest pace of planting apart from the 2018/2019 crop year, AgRural said.
The area sown with soybeans jumped by 6.2 million hectares over the previous week, AgRural noted.
“With good soil moisture, growers took advantage of last week’s clear skies to speed up planting,” AgRural said.
Brazil’s planting of summer corn, also known as first corn, reached almost 64% of the area, Safras & Mercado said. First corn is planted at the same time as soybeans and represents about 25% to 30% of output, depending on the season.
In the previous cycle, a drought slashed Brazil’s total corn production. In the present one, total corn output is seen at just above 116 million tonnes, a near 34% increase.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Holmes)