Oct 28, 2009
Rain in Parana Delays Planting Of The Full Season Corn Crop
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
While rainfall in the United States is slowing the harvesting of the 2009 corn crop, rainfall in the state of Parana in southern Brazil is slowing the planting of Brazil's 2009-10 full-season corn crop. In northern and eastern Parana, heavy rains have kept farmers out of the field and the corn planting is now 2-3 weeks behind schedule. The window for corn planting in Parana won't start to close for several more weeks, but the longer it stays wet, the greater the likelihood that some of the intended corn acreage will be switched to additional soybean production.
Domestic corn prices in southern Brazil are very low and they may sink even lower due the amount of poor quality wheat that is being harvested in the state. The heavy rains have caused more than half of the state's wheat crop to deteriorate to the point where it can only be used as livestock feed. This extra wheat then competes directly with corn in livestock rations, thus driving the corn price even lower.
Domestic corn prices were already below the cost of production in southern Brazil due to lackluster export demand and high carryover supplies. The additional competition from feed-wheat could make the situation even worse. In the hardest hit regions of the state, farmers had to replant their corn due to poor germination, which drives up the cost of producing the crop even higher. Farmers were already reducing the corn acreage in 2009-10 and if the wet weather continues, they will reduce it even further.