Soybean harvest in Rio Grande do Sul reaches 96% of planted area – EMATER-RS

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 2020/21 soybean harvest in Rio Grande do Sul reached 96% of planted areas this week, heading toward the end of the cycle, while the sowing of wheat for the winter crop has seen a slow start in some regions of the state, EMATER-RS said Thursday.

According to the agency linked to the Rio Grande do Sul government, the oilseed harvest has increased by 2 percentage points over the past week, with only 4% of areas still in the process of ripening.

In the same period in 2019/20, work reached 99%, and the historical average for this time of year is 98%.

“In some regions, producers who have harvested are sampling the soil to correct acidity and plan fertilizing for the next crop,” said EMATER-RS officials in a weekly report.

In corn, the summer harvest reached 88% of the sown area, staying ahead of the five-year historical average of 86%, but below the rate recorded at the same time in the previous harvest, when it reached 89%.

In its last update with projections for 2020/21, published in late March, the agency estimated the Rio Grande do Sul soybean harvest at 20.2 million tons, while corn production was estimated at 4.3 million tons.

ACcording to EMATER, the state also completed the rice harvest, with a 1 percentage point increase in the week and ahead of the historical average for the period, of 98%.

Wheat

On Thursday’s report the agency also noted that the sowing of the winter wheat crop in the state began in municipalities in the Ijuí region, where the period for sowing started on May 11, although still at a very slow pace. In Porto Alegre, where the area cultivated with grain is relatively small, planting is also underway.

According to the report, the area planted with wheat is expected to increase for this crop, amid rising grain prices. The increase should be noted in places like Ijuí, Santa Rosa, Bagé and Caxias do Sul.

“Good yields from soybeans, the favorable price of wheat, the lack of cattle to winter, and the availability of resources and agricultural insurance by financial institutions, encourage a larger area planted with grain,” said the EMATER-RS experts in reference to the Santa Rosa region.