Nov 11, 2024
Soybean Planting and Harvesting Concentrated In Mato Grosso
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
After a slow start, soybean planting in Mato Grosso kicked into high gear during the second half of October. According to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), during the last two weeks of October and the first week of November, farmers in the state planted a record 83% of their soybeans. This surpassed the previous record for this period of 80% in 2020/21.
The concentrated planting means there will also be a concentrated harvest period as well. Aprosoja/MT estimates that half of the soybeans in the state will be harvested during a three-week period during the last two weeks of February and the first week of March.
Farmers are concerned about the potential for wet weather during the concentrated harvest period. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting heavy rains in central Brazil during January and February, like what happened during the 2020/21 growing season. During the 2020/21 harvest, crops were lost in the field due to wet conditions, long lines of trucks formed at the grain elevators, some soybeans rotted in the trucks, poor quality soybeans were discounted as much as 90%, and some soybeans were not accepted at all.
It is uncertain if that will happen this growing season, but Aprosoja/MT is alerting the grain companies to plan ahead and increase their intake capacity if possible. They are also advising their members to be alert to unreasonable discounts the grain companies might impose on lower quality soybeans.
Additionally, the safrinha corn planting will be concentrated as well during the second half of February and wet weather during that period could delay the planting past the ideal planting window.