Dec 19, 2024
Early Soybean Harvesting Underway in Mato Grosso, Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Early harvesting of the 2024/25 soybean crop in Brazil has started in the state of Mato Grosso. The amount harvested is small and the soybeans harvested thus far were grown under center pivot irrigation. The first fields harvested are early maturing soybeans grown in the municipality of Querencia in eastern Mato Grosso. Harvesting of the irrigated soybeans will gradually increase and harvesting of the dryland soybeans will start in early January.
Center pivot irrigation allowed farmers to start planting their soybeans in early September before the first summer rains. Rainfall in central Brazil remained scarce until the second half of October. Once the soil moisture improved, farmers in the state planted more than 50% of their soybeans in a two-week period.
The concentrated planting means that the harvest will be concentrated as well next February, which can be a wet period in central Brazil. An extended period of wet weather when the soybeans are mature can result in poor quality seed and potentially lower yields. Farmers are hoping for a quick soybean harvest allowing enough time to plant the second crop of corn within the ideal planting window which closes about the third week of February.
Mato Grosso is the largest soybean producing state in Brazil and it is expected to produce 44.04 million tons of soybeans, 12.7% higher than last year with a statewide yield of 57.97 bags per hectare (51.8 bu/ac).