Brazil’s Bahia Grows More Crops but Earns Less: Farm Output Up 5.7%
BRAZIL · BAHIA · AGRIBUSINESS
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil is one of the world’s largest food exporters. Bahia, a north-eastern state larger than mainland France with about 15 million people, is best known abroad for Salvador and its beaches.
- —The background Its far west is one of Brazil’s big soy and cotton belts. The wider farm economy, from seeds to shipping, makes up about a quarter of Bahia’s output.
- —Why now The state statistics office, SEI, published its farm bulletin for April to June on 22 September.
- —What happened Farm and livestock output grew 5.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, more than double the state economy’s 2.3 percent.
- —The numbers Farm prices fell 13 percent. The farm economy’s value dropped 8.2 percent to R$40.3 billion (about US$7.75 billion) despite higher volumes.
- —What it means for you For investors and traders, Bahia is shipping more soy and cotton, with China its biggest buyer, but local farm prices are down 13 percent.
- —Still open The figures are preliminary, and SEI warns that a possible El Niño could hurt the next harvest.
Farms in the Brazilian state of Bahia produced 5.7 percent more between April and June than a year earlier. The state statistics office, SEI, credits a record soy crop, more cotton and a record cattle slaughter.
The same bulletin shows the other side. Prices for farm goods fell 13 percent, so the sector earned less money even while it grew more.
What the bulletin says
SEI, the Superintendence of Economic and Social Studies of Bahia, is the state government’s statistics agency. It published the quarterly farm bulletin on 22 September with the state agriculture department.
The 5.7 percent is a real, volume-based figure for farming and livestock alone. Bahia’s whole economy grew 2.3 percent in the quarter, when its output was worth an estimated R$154.7 billion (about US$29.8 billion).
Farming has now outgrown the state economy for six quarters in a row, SEI said. The sector grew 5.8 percent in the first quarter and 9.1 percent in the last quarter of 2025.
Gross farm production, meaning volume times price at the farm gate, reached R$26.5 billion (about US$5.1 billion). Crops accounted for 82 percent of it and livestock for 18 percent.
A record soy crop, and more cotton
Soy is Bahia’s main crop. IBGE, Brazil’s national statistics institute, estimated its 2026 soy harvest at 8.9 million tonnes in June, 3.8 percent more than in 2025.
Aiba, the western Bahia farmers’ association, calls the soy harvest a record. IBGE puts the state’s total grain crop at about 13.3 million tonnes, up 3.2 percent on 2025’s 12.8 million.
Cotton is the second pillar. IBGE expects 1.84 million tonnes of seed cotton, 2.8 percent more than last year.
Bahia is Brazil’s second-largest cotton producer after Mato Grosso.
Coffee and cocoa also rose. IBGE expects 12.5 percent more coffee and 15.4 percent more cocoa this year.
Cattle: a record, but a small one
Slaughterhouses in Bahia killed about 390,000 cattle in the quarter, the most since IBGE records began. That is only 0.9 percent more than a year earlier.
The mix matters. Slaughter of cows rose 7.6 percent while that of males fell.
SEI reads this as farmers selling off breeding stock, a sign the cattle cycle may soon turn.
Chicken slaughter rose 8.6 percent and pig slaughter 4.9 percent. Milk output fell 3.9 percent, squeezed by high costs.
Exports up, prices down
Bahia’s farm exports reached US$1.75 billion in the quarter, 9.3 percent more in value and 14 percent more in volume. Farm goods made up 51.3 percent of everything the state sold abroad.
Soy did the heavy lifting, with shipments up 21.4 percent. Cotton exports rose 41.4 percent in volume, and China took 45.7 percent of the state’s farm exports.
Sales to the Netherlands, a gateway to the European Union, jumped 75.2 percent. SEI links this to the provisional start of the trade agreement between the Mercosur bloc and the European Union, which cut tariffs.
Meat exports grew 15.1 percent in volume, but they are small: about US$13 million, under 1 percent of the total. Cocoa export revenue fell 44.3 percent and coffee 21 percent, as world prices dropped.
That price slide explains the gap. The wider farm economy’s volume rose 4.7 percent, yet its value in current reais fell 8.2 percent.
It came to R$40.3 billion (about US$7.75 billion), or 26.1 percent of the state economy. A year earlier the share was 29.6 percent.
Dollar figures use the central bank reference rate of R$5.1991 per US dollar for 25 September. For comparison, see Mato Grosso’s record farm output, Brazil’s largest farm state, and a guide to Brazil’s agribusiness.
What comes next
SEI lists the risks plainly. Net farm hiring was only 614 jobs in the quarter, against 3,205 a year earlier.
Rural credit has also tightened because of high interest rates and farm debt.
It also flags a possible El Niño in the second half of the year, which could hurt the 2026–27 harvest. All the quarterly figures are preliminary and may be revised.
The growth figure does not mean farmers are earning more. It measures how much Bahia produced, not what it was paid, and on prices the quarter was weak.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Bahia grow?
Mainly soy and cotton in the western plains, plus maize, coffee, cocoa and fruit. It also raises cattle, chickens and pigs, and exports pulp from its forestry sector.
Why did farm output grow while its value fell?
Volumes rose, but prices for farm goods fell 13 percent in the quarter. Local soy prices dipped 2.7 percent, while cotton and coffee fell by about a third.
Who buys Bahia’s farm exports?
China took 45.7 percent in the second quarter, mostly soy, pulp and cotton. The Netherlands, a gateway to the European Union, was second with 10.1 percent.
How big is farming in Bahia’s economy?
The wider farm economy, from seeds to shipping, makes up about a quarter of Bahia’s output; in the second quarter of 2026 its value dropped 8.2 percent to R$40.3 billion (about US$7.75 billion) despite higher volumes.
Sources: SEI and Seagri, Boletim de Conjuntura Agropecuária da Bahia, 2nd quarter 2026, published 22 September 2026, SEI bulletin page, updated 22 September 2026, Jornal Grande Bahia, 24 September 2026, Bahia Econômica, 24 September 2026, Banco Central do Brasil, PTAX 25 September 2026 (5.1991 reais per US dollar). The bulletin draws on IBGE livestock and crop surveys (LSPA, June 2026), Conab and federal trade data. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
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