Brazil’s soybean harvest for the 2023/24 cycle had reached 78% of the planted area as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 4 percentage points from the previous week.
The figure was below the 82% seen at the same time a year earlier.
AgRural analysts said in a statement that harvesting is now more concentrated in states where farmers planted their fields later in the season, such as Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The weather there allowed field work to advance “well” last week, according to the consultancy firm, while in the country’s north and northeast regions rains above historical levels have been an issue in some areas.
AgRural also said Brazil’s second corn crop, which represents about 75% of the national production each year, had seen another week of “contrasting conditions” in Brazil’s so-called center-south region.
Fields in top grain producing state Mato Grosso and neighboring Goias state have been developing well, but some areas of Mato Grosso do Sul and Sao Paulo states have struggled with the effects of heavy rains and high temperatures, it said.
“The most affected region so far is western Parana state, which is expected to see a drop in yields,” AgRural added.
Brazil’s second corn crop is planted after soybeans are harvested from the same fields. Planting was finalized last month.