Dec 28, 2009
Soybean Harvest Started In Brazil Before Christmas
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The early soybean harvest in Mato Grosso started before Christmas, just a little more than 90 days after the crop was planted in mid-September. The two municipalities where the harvest has started are Lucas do Rio Verde in north-central Mato Grosso and Sapezal in western Mato Grosso. The soybeans being harvested are early and extra-early maturing varieties that only require 90 days to mature. The volume of soybeans being harvested is small and all the early-harvested soybeans are being sold to local crushers.
Early soybean yields are expected to be good due to the early onset of the rainy season and good rains thus far during the growing season. While early-maturing soybeans generally yield less than later maturing varieties, they are cheaper to grow because they require less fungicide and insecticide treatments due to the short time they are in the field. Additionally, these early maturing soybeans also offer ample time to plant a second crop of corn or even cotton.
Most of the early maturing soybeans are planted in central Mato Grosso and estimates are that no more than 30% of the soybeans in the state are early maturing. In fact, planting just wrapped up several weeks ago in eastern Mato Grosso and they are already harvesting soybeans in central Mato Grosso. Soybean harvesting will continue to accelerate until the peak of the harvest, which is at the end of January and then it will continue until early March.
In a good year, early maturing soybean varieties generally yield about 50 sacks of 60 kilos per hectare (43.5 bu/ac) as compared to the later maturing varieties that can easily yield 55 sacks per hectare or more (48 bu/ac or more). The variable cost of production for the early maturing varieties in Mato Grosso is generally about 40 sacks per hectare (35 bu/ac).
The three major regions of soybean production in Mato Grosso include the central-north where about 40% of the state's soybeans are grown, southeastern Mato Grosso where 23% of the crop is grown, and western Mato Grosso where 16% of the crop is grown.