Poor weather raises alarm for Brazil’s soybean crop but record harvest still expected

Adverse weather in Brazil has raised alarms for its 2023/2024 soybean crop, but a record harvest is still expected, an executive at grain trader and processor Archer-Daniels-Midland Co ADM.N said on Tuesday.

“It really is a moment of alert,” said Luciano Souza, ADM’s Grains director for South America, in an interview. “The rains have come later and have been occurring irregularly.”

After ten days of high temperatures, much-expected rains in the central-north part of the countrylast weekend “didn’t come with the necessary depth or intensity,” said the executive.

“We look at the climate models, and the scenario persists: We will continue to receive a lot of rain in the south… and we have irregular rainfall in other regions,” he said.

The rainfall, or lack thereof, has delayed soy planting throughout Brazil.

Souza said the scenario is worrying, but a record harvest is still expected.

“Of course, we have to monitor developments over the next few days and weeks,” he cautioned.

While yields may fall, the planted area is set to increase in the 2023/24 harvest, Souza said, highlighting a particularly large harvest in Rio Grande do Sul state.

ADM will announce a detailed harvest forecast in coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the company also announced the launch of a program to support regenerative agriculture practices in the country.

The program will start by providing guidance and funding to grain producers farming on some 20,000 hectares of land in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais.

Tags: Brazil, soybean, crop forecast