SAO PAULO, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thunderstorms and rainfall in key soy producing regions could hamper harvesting and delay planting of winter corn in some areas of Brazil, according to a weather forecaster on Monday.
Wet conditions, which should prevail in many parts of the South American country, are expected to continue throughout the week, Marco Antonio dos Santos, at Rural Clima, said in a report.
Rains are not expected to affect the quality of the soybeans or provoke crop failure, the forecaster noted, adding they will be moderate.
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Farmers enjoyed dry weather during the past two weeks, helping harvests rapidly progress.
But satellite images show “instability” over Mato Grosso, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo for this week, dos Santos said.
In Mato Grosso, where more than a quarter of Brazilian soybeans is grown, harvesting reached 13.5 percent of the planted area, an increase from 2.8 percent the week before, consultancy AgRural said Friday.
Favorable weather and the expectation of heavy rains at the end of January and beginning of February led Mato Grosso farmers to speed up harvesting over the past week, AgRural said.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that soybean output for 2017/18 will be 110 million metric tons, down four percent from last year’s record.
– with files from the USDA
