29 Cities in Mato Grosso Declare Emergency due to Excessive Rain

Persistent heavy rains in the state of Mato Grosso led 29 municipalities to declare a state of emergency with some receiving more than 16 inches of rain over the last few weeks. The biggest concern about the excessive rainfall is focused on eastern and central Mato Grosso. The excessive moisture has delayed the start of the soybean harvest in Mato Grosso, which is Brazil’s largest soybean producing state.

The Soybean & Corn Producers Association of Mato Grosso (Aprosoja/MT) indicated that the persistent wet weather has kept the combines out of the field even though the soybeans may be ready to harvest. The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) reported late last week that 4% of the soybeans had been harvested compared to 21% last year.

The heavy rains are also resulting in logistical problems such as washed-out roads and bridges, impassable dirt roads, and long detours. Farmers are also encountering long lines of trucks when they try to deliver their soybeans to local grain elevators or cooperatives because these facilities do not have enough drying capacity to dry the high moisture soybeans being delivered.

A lack of on-farm storage is complicating the harvest even more. Only 15% of Brazilian farmers have on-farm storage and without on-farm storage, farmers contract trucking companies to deliver their soybeans to the local gain elevator or cooperative. If they are held up in long lines at the grain elevator due to a lack of drying capacity, the farmers cannot continue harvesting until an empty truck returns, which can result in unharvested soybeans sitting in the rain even longer.

Delaying the soybean harvest also means the safrinha corn planting will be delayed as well. Imea reported last week that only 1% of the safrinha corn had been planted compared to 11% last year. The ideal planting window for safrinha corn in the state closes about February 20th. Planting corn after that date increases the risk of low yields due to the onset of dry weather before the corn matures. The latest anyone would plant corn in Mato Grosso is March 10-15.

Tags: heavy rains, harvest, planting, Brazil, soybeans, Mato Grosso, safrinha corn