Oct 04, 2010
Dry Weather Accelerates the Brazilian Wheat Harvest
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The extended dry season in Brazil caused many problems for Brazilian farmers, but for the wheat growers in southern Brazil, the dry weather has resulted in rapid pace for the wheat harvest and high quality grain. Farmers in Parana have harvested 60% of their wheat, which is 25% more than what was harvested on October 1, of 2009. The quality of the wheat being harvested is also vastly superior to last year. In 2009 heavy rains during October lowered the yield and the quality of the crop to such an extent that half of the wheat harvested in Parana last year was only of feed quality.
Farmers in Parana planted their 2010 wheat crop before the drought in Russia drove up the price of wheat worldwide. As a result, they reduced their wheat acreage by 13% in 2010 compared to 2009. Even with the reduction in acreage, farmers in Parana still managed to plant 53% of Brazil's wheat acreage and they are expected to produce 56% of Brazil's total production. Yields across the state are highly variable depending on the severity of the dry weather, but the total wheat production is still expected to surpass last year's disastrous crop.
Rio Grande do Sul is the second leading wheat producing state in Brazil and 4% of the wheat in that state is ready for harvest. The quality of the wheat in that state is expected to be good as well. Parana and Rio Grande do Sul combined produce more than 85% of the Brazilian wheat crop.
A pleasant surprise for the farmers harvesting their wheat is the price of wheat, which is approximately R$ 26 per sack of 60 kilograms or US$ 7.00 per bushel.