Farmers in Rio Grande do Sul Increasing Small Grain Acreage

Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul is Brazil’s largest producer of winter small grains such as wheat, oats, and barley. The weather in the state is too cold to plant a second crop of corn, so the most popular second crop is small grains. Small grain acreage in the state is increasing this year due to higher prices and high demand.

Recently dryer weather has allowed farmers in Rio Grande do Sul to resume planting their 2022 small grains, which had been delayed the previous week due to wet conditions.

The largest acreage of small grains will be winter wheat and Emater is estimating that farmers in the state will plant 1.41 million hectares of winter wheat (3.48 million acres), which represents an increase of 15% compared to last year. The statewide wheat yield is estimated at 2,822 kg/ha (42 bu/ac) and the production is estimated at approximately 4 million tons.

Conab is estimating that Brazil will produce 8.35 million tons of wheat in 2022, which is up 8.8% from the 7.6 million tons produced in 2021. If verified, this would be a record large wheat crop for Brazil. The domestic demand for wheat in 2022 is estimated at 14.2 million tons and Brazil is expected to import 6.5 million tons with most of the wheat imports coming from neighboring Argentina.

The second largest small grain acreage in the state will be oats and farmers are expected to plant 392,500 hectares of oats (969,500 acres), which represents an increase of 14.2% compared to last year.

Barley planting is also underway and farmers are expected to plant 36,700 hectares (90,700 acres), which represents an increase of 0.8% compared to last year.

Farmers in the state are also in the process of planting a small amount of canola. The 2022 canola acreage is estimated at 48,450 ha (119,600 acres), which represents an increase of 66.8% compared to last year.

Tags: wheat, yield, acreage, oats, Rio Grande do Sul, dryer weather, winter small grains, barley, second crop of corn, planting, Brazil, Production