Brazilian Crops Shrinking

Conab cut their Brazilian soy & corn crop estimates for 2008/09 yesterday, blaming drought stress.

The ministry’s crop-forecasting agency pegged soybeans at 57.7mmt, down 1.1mmt from their December estimate, and corn at 52.2mmt, down 2.2mmt from last month.

“The period of low precipitation and irregular rainfall that has stricken the South has already started to cause serious damage,” their report said.

“Most corn crops are in the flowering stage, a crucial moment,” they added.

A lack of significant rainfall in the south in recent weeks may pare output further, Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said in an interview yesterday. Corn output may drop to around 50mmt, and soybean production to 53mmt, he said.

If the bean crop came in as low as 53mmt, that would be almost 12% down on last season's crop of 60mmt. Corn at 50mmt would equate to a fall of almost 14% on a year ago.