Brazilian Wheat Plantings Delayed

Heavy rains mean that wheat planting in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul is well behind schedule with only around 10% of the anticipated acreage so far in the ground.

Farmers there will be carefully weighing up their options as wheat grown in the state is usually followed by soybeans in November. Planting wheat too late could therefore mean missing out on getting second crop soybeans sown.

Local wheat prices are lower than the cost of production, and well below the government-sponsored support level, just as they are for corn and soybeans too.

The question many growers will be asking is whether there will still be any money left in the government's kitty come harvest-time? If not then they'll have to take whatever they can get locally, which is highly unlikely to be showing them any sort of a profit.