Brazilian Growers Go Bust in Blow to $7 Billion Farm-Credit Boom
- Cargill says wave of farmer bankruptcies is ‘very worrying’
- Defaults are starting to hit debt markets as crop prices fall
A Case IH combine harvests soybeans on a farm near Brasilia, Brazil.
Photographer: Andressa Anholete/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Agricultural powerhouse Brazil is harvesting one bumper crop after another. Yet, growers are going bankrupt at an alarming rate, dealing a blow to investors in the fast-growing $7 billion market for agribusiness funding.
Tumbling corn and soybean prices are sparking defaults, undermining returns for so-called Fiagros, the Brazilian investment funds backed by agricultural receivables such as interest, dividends and land-lease payments. Funds including Galapagos Recebiveis do Agronegocio and SFI Investimentos do Agronegocio have plunged below the value of their underlying assets after farmers skipped payments on some credit facilities.