Market News & Headlines >> Rains to Help Brazilian Corn

Rains are expected this week in Brazil’s second-crop corn growing areas, providing relief from a dry spell that started in late March and significantly stressed fields in parts of the country’s center-west, center-south and northeast growing areas. 

"With the advance of this meteorological system to Brazil's interior, this week rain is expected in almost all regions of the country," Marco Antonio dos Santos of Somar Meteorologia told Reuters News Service in a phone interview. Rains are expected in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul and Parana on Monday and by Tuesday should reach Sao Paulo and top grains producing state Mato Grosso, he said. 

Meteorolgist World Weather Inc. said Monday morning that Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso would get rainfall today and Tuesday, easing dryness and restoring a very good outlook for production potentials.  

Rain will also fall in Goias, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais early to mid-week, World Weather said, but resulting rainfall is not likely to be very great in Goias or Minas Gerais where additional rain will be needed to improve corn, sugarcane and late season coffee development. 

Some of the second or “safrinha” corn crop has already been lost, particularly in Goias, Brazil’s fourth largest corn state with expected safrinha crop production of roughly 7.9 million metric tons. The crop in the largest producing state of Mato Grosso should still be in generally good shape as soil moisture remained high there going into mid-April. Mato Grosso is expected  to harvest a safrinha crop of 20.33 million tons or 35.6% of nationwide production.