Soybean sowing in Brazil reaches 97,0% of the area projected for the 2021/22 harvest

  A survey carried out by Datagro Consulting shows that the planting of the 2021/22 soybean harvest in Brazil showed slow progress in the week ending December 10, having reached the national average of 97,0% of the expected area, 1,4 percentage points more compared to the previous week.

This weekly pace was below the 3,5 p.p. at the same time in 2020 and the 3,4 p.p. of the average of the last five years. However, the accumulated remains an absolute record for the period and work will conclude in the next few days. On the same date last year, sowing in the country had reached 96,6%; in the multi-year average, 95,6%.

Much of the producing region observed rain interspersed with periods of sun, favoring crops already cultivated, but progress was slow in states that have not yet closed work: in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, due to the lack of moisture; in Bahia, Maranhão and Piauí, due to excess humidity. However, this delay in completion is not characterized as a major problem in the states mentioned, as soybean farmers have until the end of the month to do so. The concern remains greater with the scarce rainfall in the South region, which is already accumulating loss of productive potential – in some cases, irreversible losses.

In other regions of Brazil, the humidity situation remains satisfactory, with regular rainfall. At some points even excessive, but they have not yet turned into significant losses.

For December, the forecast is for below-average rainfall only for the South region, but this should return to normal in January. “The forecast is for an interesting episode of rain to occur this week in much of this drier region, bringing encouragement to producers”, says Flávio Roberto de França Junior, Grains coordinator at Datagro.