Dec 15, 2011
Cotton Farmers in Mato Grosso Start Planting their 2011/12 Crop
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in Mato Grosso are in the process of preparing to plant their 2011/12 cotton crop. According to Conab, the state should produce 724,000 hectares of cotton this growing season, which would represent approximately 53% of Brazil's total cotton acreage. One concern the farmers have is the lack of soil moisture in some areas of western Mato Grosso. In the dryer areas, farmers would have liked to already have started planting, but they are waiting for improved soil moisture to insure germination and stand establishment.
In some regions, the planting started December first, but in northern Mato Grosso, planting won't start until next week. Full-season cotton is generally planted during the month of December and safrinha cotton is generally planted during January and early February.
A real change in cotton production in Brazil in recent years has been the increase in safrinha cotton acreage. Normal full-season cotton varieties mature in 210 days, but safrinha cotton varieties mature in just 170 days, which means they can be planted later in the growing season after the early maturing soybeans are harvested. The amount of safrinha cotton planted continues to increase as new cotton varieties become available for safrinha planting.
The second leading cotton producing state is Bahia where Conab is estimating that 409,000 hectares will be planted, or an increase of 1%. The full-season cotton in Bahia is generally planted during January and February, but it may start earlier this year due to an early onset of the rainy season.
Enthusiasm for cotton has declined significantly from a year ago when record prices encouraged farmers in Brazil to greatly expand their cotton acreage. Producers are now apprehensive about the recently declining prices and how the European financial crisis could impact export demand. Due to recently falling cotton prices, the cotton acreage in Mato Grosso is expected to decline 6% and for Brazil as a whole, the acreage is expected to decline 2.7% to 1.361 million hectares.