SAO PAULO: Brazilian soybean farmers are expected to reap a record crop of nearly 178 million metric tons in the 2025/26 marketing year, crop agency Conab said on Thursday, as harvesting of the oilseed gets well under way in the world’s largest producer and exporter.
Conab also predicted a second corn crop of 109.26 million tons, some 1.2 million tons less than in a January forecast but
3.5percent below last year’s 113.22 million tons. Second corn is planted after soybeans are harvested in the same areas and represents the bulk of Brazil’s total corn production in a given season. It is mainly exported in the second half of the year and competes with US corn.
The planting of Brazil’s second corn crop gained momentum in January and in the first week of February reached 21.6percent of the area, according to Conab.
The pace of second corn planting is close to the average of the last harvests and above that seen last season, Conab said, indicating farmers are poised to finish sowing inside the ideal climate window. “The progress of [second corn] planting will be directly linked to February rains and will have a direct influence on the speed of the soybean harvesting,” Conab said.
Farmers began reaping their soy from the ground in most states. By early February, work had reached 17.4percent of the cultivated soy area, close to the historical average, according to Conab.
Frequent rains in Central and Northern regions, however, have disrupted removal of soybeans from fields, Conab noted, adding this has not yet significantly affected quality and output prospects.
In Mato Grosso, Brazil’s biggest farming state, soybean growers reaped nearly half of their fields.