Jan 18, 2010
Heavy Rains In Brazil Good For Soy Development, But Drives Up Costs
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The heavy rains that have fallen most of this growing season throughout Brazil are good for soybean development, but it is also leading to increased disease and pest pressures as well. In northern Parana, the State University of Maringa estimates that the amount of pesticides applied to the soybean crop thus far this growing season is 94% more compared to last year at the same time. Farmers have had to apply more fungicides to control soybean rust and more insecticides to control leaf-eating worms.
In addition to spraying more often, the saturated field conditions have forced some farmers to turn to more expensive aerial application instead of ground application. Crop dusters in southern Parana are reporting that their business has doubled compared to 2008-09. An aerial application of fungicide to control soybean rust can cost as much as R$ 25 per hectare compared to ground applications that cost R$ 7-10 per hectare.
The state of Goias appears to be the state hardest hit by soybean rust this growing season. There have been 350 cases of rust registered thus far, which is 42% of all the rust cases reported in Brazil. Reports out of Goias indicate that farmers have been forced to increase the number of fungicide applications in order to control the disease. In a typical year, the fungicide needs to be reapplied every 25 to 30 days in order to control the disease, but this year the soybean producers in Brazil are applying the fungicides more frequently. When the rainfall started to pick up, farmers in Goias reduced the time intervals between applications. One farmer in Goias reported that his original plan was to make three fungicide applications with each application being 15 days apart, but the disease has been more aggressive than usual and he has now reduced the intervals between applications to 12 days. As a result, he now plans on making five applications during the growing season.
Some agronomists are worried that farmers are reacting too quickly to the reports of rust in their region and they recommend that farmers wait until the disease is confirmed in their fields before they start fungicide applications. They point out that an early application of fungicides does not "vaccinate" the soybean crop against rust.