Feb 22, 2010
Farmers In Mato Grosso Spending Much More On Fungicides
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in Mato Grosso have not been able to rest in their effort to control soybean rust. Due to the frequent rains and higher incidence of the disease this growing season, it is estimated that statewide, the farmers have reduced the time interval between fungicide applications from a normal of 18 to 20 days between applications to as few as 10 to 12 days between applications. Soybean farmers who applied one or two applications of fungicides in 2008-09 are applying three or even four applications in 2009-10.
One of the problems with soybean rust is the fact that the spores can be dispersed to nearby fields during the harvesting process. Currently, the farmers are harvesting the medium maturing soybeans, but the later maturing soybeans are still green and vulnerable to additional rust infestations. Since there has been a higher level of rust infestation in the early and medium maturing soybeans, the farmers must continue to apply fungicides to the later maturing soybeans to prevent yield reductions.
During the 2009-10 growing season, many farmers opted to increase the percentage of extra-early and early-maturing soybeans planted on their farms in order to allow for more safrinha corn and cotton acreage. That strategy this year did not quite work out as anticipated. A period of dry weather during November affected the early-maturing soybeans keeping them shorter than normal. Excessive rains during harvest also affected yields and seed quality especially in western Mato Grosso where it recently rained eleven straight days. The early-maturing soybeans are allowing for a second crop of corn or cotton to be planted, but the yields of the early soybeans have been disappointing.
Another reason for more early maturing soybeans was to save on fungicide applications, but the early appearance of soybean rust has resulted in a higher cost to control the disease as compared to last year.
The average yield of the soybeans harvested in Mato Grosso thus far this harvest season is estimated at 50.02 sacks/ha (43.5 bu/ac), which is below the 50.87 sacks per hectare (44.3 bu/ac) recorded during the 2008-09 growing season. The medium maturing soybeans are now being harvested and its the medium soybeans that sustain the crop prospects in the state. The only way the 2009-10 soybean yield in Mato Grosso is going to surpass the 2008-09 yield would be if the later maturing soybeans yield much better than anticipated.