Brazilian farmers will harvest a record soybean crop in the new season

Brazilian farmers will harvest a record soybean crop in the new season as they plant the oilseed on a larger area, the state agricultural agency Conab said on Tuesday in its first forecast report for 2023/24 MY.

Farmers in the South American food producer, who have already started planting new soybeans and first corn, are expected to produce 162 million metric tons of soybeans, up 4.8% from last year, Conab said.

According to Conab’s calculations, Brazilian soybean producers are expected to expand the planted area to 45.1 million hectares from 44 million hectares, which is 2.5% more than last season.

Brazilian farmers will harvest about 119.404 million tons of corn, down 9.5% from last season, reflecting the smaller planted area and the initial effects of El Niño weather conditions.

Conab said that the first and second corn planted areas in Brazil will decrease by 6.7% and 4.5% respectively in the 2023/24 cycle, as farmers consider corn prices unattractive compared to soybeans.

The El Niño weather phenomena are already affecting the corn prospects in Brazil.

According to Conab, in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, the rains significantly delayed the first planting of corn.

Tags: crop forecast, Brazil, soybean