Farmers in Parana in Have Planted 1% of Their Winter Wheat

Farmers in the state of Parana in southern Brazil have started to plant their 2023 winter wheat. The Department of Rural Economics (Deral) indicated that 1% of the wheat in Parana has been planted under generally good conditions.

Parana is the second largest wheat producing state in Brazil. Deral estimates that farmers in the state will plant 1.36 million hectares of wheat (3.35 million acres), which represents an increase of 13% compared to last year. If the weather cooperates during the growing season, the state is projected to produce 4.5 million tons of wheat in 2023.

Part of the reason for the increased wheat acreage this year is because it got too late to plant safrinha corn due to the delayed soybean harvest. If safrinha corn is planted outside the permitted window, which usually closes in early March, farmers cannot access crop insurance. Therefore, some farmers opted to plant wheat instead of safrinha corn.

The largest wheat producing state in Brazil is Rio Grande do Sul where the wheat is planted later than in Parana.

There has been a concerted push in recent years to expand wheat production outside of southern Brazil into the cerrado regions of central Brazil. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Service, Embrapa, has developed wheat varieties adopted to the cerrado region and farmers who have planted wheat reported high yields and excellent quality wheat.

Wheat produced in central Brazil commands a premium from local millers in central Brazil because it lowers their costs. Instead of transporting wheat or flour a long distance from southern Brazil, local millers would much prefer purchasing wheat produced in the region. Additionally, wheat grown in central Brazil is harvested during the dry season, which helps ensure high quality wheat.

If the weather cooperates during the growing season, Brazil might produce a record 11 million tons of wheat in 2023. The domestic demand for wheat in Brazil is approximately 12-13 million tons.

Tags: Brazil, weather, winter wheat, Production, wheat, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, estimates