July 31, 2013
Brazil''s 2013-14 soy harvest to rise 9%
Brazilian soy crops, which will be planted in September 2013, are expected to rise by 9% under normal weather conditions, at a record of 89.1 million tonnes in the 2013-14 marketing year.
According to a report by crop analyst, AgRural, early indicators show that soy area will grow 6% to 29.5 million hectares (73 million acres) next season.
AgRural said thatthe strengthening of the US dollar against the Brazilian real this year has offset the decline in soy prices, thus makingcultivation ofthe crop economically attractive to producers.
Thelargest expansion in absolute terms will occur in Mato Grosso, Brazil''s largest soy producing state located in the centre-west, with an additional 592,000 hectares. The state, which already plants 7.8 million hectares with soy, has large reserves of degraded pasturewhich is being converted into farmland usethrough the application of lime and fertilisers.
Expansion in soy planting will also occur in the southern grain states of Rio Grande do Sul and Parana, where producers will be switching a greater share of theirinitial summer corn crops to soy, whileplanting more corn during the winter crop season, AgRural data showed.
Summer corn plantingarea is expected to fall by 13% from this year''s 6.89 million hectares, AgRural added.
Late last week, analyst Safras e Mercado released its first forecast of new soy crops,with an expectation ofa record 88.17 million tonnes of ouput, up 7% from this year''s level.