Dry Weather in Key Crop Shipper Brazil Has Farmers Ripping Up Crops
Forecasters slash estimates after below-average rainfall and high temperatures leave critical oilseed and grain harvests at risk.
A corn harvest in Brasilia, Brazil, in August.
Photographer: Mateus Bonomi/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesParched fields and scorching heat have delayed soybean planting in the world’s biggest grower, imperiling the upcoming corn crop that can’t even begin until soy has been reaped.
Farmer Endrigo Dalcin, who grows grains and oilseeds in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, is among those feeling the squeeze. He had originally planned to sow 4,900 hectares of soy then replace most of that with corn come January or February, but he’s only been able to plant 3,000 hectares so far. Scarce rains killed around a quarter of the seedlings, and now he’ll have to replant in some areas. By the time the replacement soy is ready to be harvested, it’ll be too late to sow the full corn crop he’d imagined.