Oct 25, 2009
Corn Planting In Rio Grande do Sul Reach 50%, Soybeans 1%
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Farmers in Rio Grande do Sul have taken advantage of recent dry weather to plant more than 50% of their intended 1.27 million hectares of corn. The 2009-10-corn acreage in the state is expected to be approximately 8% lower than the 1.38 million hectares planted last year. Ample soil moisture coupled with abundant sunshine and warm temperatures have resulted in rapid germination and good stand establishment.
Now that the corn is in the ground, farmers are turning their attention to planting the expected 3.95 million hectares of soybeans. According to the state extension service (Emater/RS-Ascar) 1% of the intended soybeans have been planted. Rio Grande do Sul is always the last state to plant soybeans in southern Brazil and this the appropriate time to start planting the crop. A significant portion of the soybeans in the state are planted as double crop soybeans following wheat. November is the primary month for wheat harvest in Rio Grande do Sul as well as soybean planting.
The state of Rio Grande do Sul is also the largest rice producing state in Brazil. All the rice production in the state is flood irrigated and the recent heavy rains have slowed down the rice planting. Approximately 20% of the 1.1 million hectares of irrigated rice has been planted, which is slower than the normal pace. On the positive side, all the lakes and reservoirs used to irrigate the rice are currently filled to capacity. This is in stark contrast to last year when dry weather resulted in a shortage of irrigation water for the rice crop.