PRIMAVERA DO LESTE: Soy farmers in Brazil's top soy-growing state Mato Grosso are struggling to harvest in heavy rains that have left fields soggy and cut the price of grains which are too damp.
Unusually heavy rains for the time of year have blighted what had been shaping up to be a good quality harvest in the state which grows 25 percent of Brazil's soy, after overcoming overly dry weather at its sowing stage late last year.
"When it dries out a bit, we try to move in with the machines, but we don't make much progress. I'd say we've only harvested about 20 hectares in the last 10 days," said Marcio Viais, farm manager at the Buriti farm in Primavera do Leste in the center south of the state.
Buriti is one of several farms belonging to the Bom Futuro group, one of the country's largest producers.
Agronomists and technicians are touring the center-west soy growing areas this week, an annual event at the outset of the harvest organized by agricultural analysts Agroconsult, and meeting many producers in the same predicament.
Technicians on the tour measuring the soy's humidity found it was around 23 percent, well above the optimum 13 percent and that has been reflected in the price producers have received. Cargill discounted some 17 tonnes from the most recent 54 tonne load it received from Buriti due to its high water content.
Producers have mostly reported normal productivity levels however, around 55 bags 60-kg per hectare.
Some growers further south in the neighboring state of Mato Grosso do Sul have had even worse luck at a time of year when rains are usually receding on the approach to autumn. Flooded fields there could trim 1 million tonnes of its expected output of 5 million tonnes, officials have said.
RUSH TO HARVEST
Many farmers in Mato Grosso are unwilling to risk waiting to see if the weather will turn drier which would ease harvesting work and reduce the water content of the soy, preferring to harvest now in case the rain gets heavier still.
"My wife's made lunch but I'm going to skip it. Look at how the sky is," said farmer Marco Antonio Bertao, who has a 1,080 hectare farm to the south of Primavera do Leste, in the municipality of Campo Verde.
He climbed back into his harvester moments later to continue harvesting under the menacing dark grey clouds.
Central growing areas in Mato Grosso have gotten soaked with 97 millimeters (4 inches) of rain over the past three days but is expected to see some clear days interspersed with some rain the rest of the week.
Farmers should still turn a profit despite discounts traders are demanding due to the rise in international prices for the oil seed.
"Things could have been better, given the optimal condition of farms up to now. It wasn't so great, but it's satisfactory," said manager Franciano Santana, watching over 25 harvesters at work at the 7,500 hectare Fazenda Fartura farm.
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