Brazilian soybean farmers have finished planting their crop, and good weather has helped get the crop off to a fast start. Some indications are that harvest could begin as soon as mid-January. Hoosier Ag Today meteorologist Ryan Martin says right now the weather look good and yield prospects should be on track, “We have had an average of 1 to 3 inches of rain over the main soybean growing areas of Brazil over the past 2 to 3 weeks, so there has been plenty of moisture to get the crop off to a good start. I see drier air moving in over the next few weeks, but not enough to cause any major problems.”
But, further south in Argentina, Martin says things have been drier, “Over the next 10 days dry weather will continue. This will prompt some headlines about dryness in Argentina, but I do not see a major drought at this point.” Yet Martin says this is a situation that needs to be watched. If the dry conditions persist into the new year, it could reduce their soybean yields.
While the dry conditions in Argentina could impact their corn crop, production in Brazil should not be impacted. Tom Fritz, with EFG, told HAT part of the weakness in the corn market on Wednesday was caused by an improving weather forecast in Brazil that will likely help their corn crop. Martin says, if the soybean harvest is early, then this will allow for a 2nd crop of corn that will increase corn production in South America.
Ryan Martin will be part of our seminar series next week at the Indiana/Illinois Farm Show at the State Fairgrounds. He, along with Dr. Chris Hurt, will present an outlook program on Wednesday.