SAO PAULO: Brazilian farmers have sowed an estimated 9.6% of the estimated soybean area, below last year’s 10.1% level as erratic weather is disrupting the work in some areas, according to agribusiness consultancy Agrural on Monday.

“Constant rains and high humidity continue to predominate in Parana, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul states, preventing further advances of the machines,” AgRural’s statement said. In Brazil’s biggest soybean grower Mato Grosso, “scant rainfall and low soil moisture limits the pace of planters, especially in the mid-north of the state,” AgRural noted.

Soybean farmers in Brazil, the world’s biggest supplier of the oilseed, began planting their crop in the middle of last month. In the areas where the crop is sowed earlier, it is possible to start harvesting in January.