Safrinha Corn Planting in Mato Grosso Off to a Slow Start

Wet weather continues to slow the early soybean harvest in Mato Grosso which also is slowing the start of the safrinha corn planting in the state. As of last week, farmers in the state had harvested 2.3% of their soybeans compared to 4.1% the prior year according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea). The slow pace of the soybean harvest has also slowed the start of the safrinha corn planting as well.

In their first report of 2023 released last week, Imea indicated that 0.42% of the intended safrinha corn acreage in the state had been planted compared to 1.5% last year and 1.1% average.

The safrinha corn planting is expected to remain slow due to continued wet weather. The meteorological consulting firm TempoCampo is forecasting that over the next 30 days, much of Mato Grosso will receive between 8 to 12 inches of rainfall.

The ideal planting window for safrinha corn in Mato Grosso closes about the third week of February and Imea had forecasted several months ago that 98% of the crop could be planted within the ideal window. That goal may not be reached if the wet forecast verifies.

Farmers would like to plant their safrinha corn as soon as possible after the soybeans are harvested so the crop has time to go through its critical reproductive phase before the onset of the annual dry season which starts in late May or early June.

The safrinha corn crop in Brazil represents approximately three-quarters of Brazil’s total corn production. In their January Crop Report, Conab estimated that Brazil would produce 96.2 million tons of safrinha corn in 2022/23 and that the state of Mato Grosso would produce 44.0 million tons.

Tags: Mato Grosso, safrinha corn, harvest, planting, Brazil, weather