Rural producers in the southern region of the country can renegotiate rural credit debts until May 31st

Rural producers in states in the southern region of the country that were affected by bad weather or a drop in agricultural prices will be able to renegotiate rural credit debts for investments. The measure is a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture (Mapa), supported by the Ministry of Finance (MF), and approved by the National Monetary Council (CMN), in March.

Farmers from the South, Southeast, Central-West and North regions will be included. In the states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, for example, soybean, corn and dairy cattle production activities may be renegotiated. The deadline for renegotiation is May 31st.

With the initiative, financial institutions will be able to postpone or pay in installments debts that will mature in 2024. In this context, the contracted operations must be in compliance by December 30, 2023.

The resolution was necessary given the fact that, in the 2023/2024 harvest, the climate behavior in the main producing regions negatively affected some crops, reducing productivity in specific locations. Furthermore, rural producers have also faced difficulties with falling prices in light of the global scenario.

“Climate problems and flat prices brought uncertainty for producers. However, for the first time in history, a government stepped forward and applied support measures even before the end of the harvest”, highlighted the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro.

The minister also explained the first step to access renegotiation. “It is enough, then, for any producer, who fits the measure, to look for their financial agent with the report from their agronomist, contextualizing the situation. As a result, the debt will be extended or paid in installments”, he reinforced.

Scope

The authorized renegotiation covers investment operations whose installments due in 2024 may reach the value of R＄ 20,8 billion in equalized resources, R＄ 6,3 billion in resources from constitutional funds and R＄ 1,1 billion in mandatory resources.

If all installments of operations falling within the criteria of the resolution approved by the CMN are extended, the cost will be R＄ 3,2 billion, distributed between the years 2024 and 2030, half of which will go to family farming and half to corporate farming. The effective cost will be deducted from the amounts to be allocated to equalize rates for the 2024/2025 harvest plans.

Check below the productive activities and states that will be impacted by the measure:

• soy, corn and beef cattle: Goiás and Mato Grosso;
• meat and milk cattle farming: Minas Gerais;
• soy, corn and dairy cattle: São Paulo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina;
• beef cattle farming: Rondônia, Roraima, Pará, Acre, Amapá, Amazonas and Tocantins;
• soy, corn and dairy and meat cattle farming: Mato Grosso do Sul;
• dairy cattle farming: Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro.

To qualify, the financing must be supported by the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf), the National Support Program for Medium Rural Producers (Pronamp) and other rural investment programs of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), as well as the rural investment lines of constitutional funds.