Brazil Wheat Hits Five-Year Low

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|22 June 2006

The projected Brazilian wheat area of 1.93 million hectares (Ha) would be the lowest since 2002. While strong prices are expected to convince some farmers to make last-minute shifts to wheat, a number of factors are contributing to the depleting wheat area, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS). Among these are:

  • Very poor returns for last year’s crop;
  • A 22% reduction in the state of Parana due to dry conditions at planting forcing many producers to plant dangerously late or opt for a forage crop;
  • Producers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul reducing area by 18% with the greatest reduction in the highest yielding region in the northwestern portion of the state;
  • Poor yields and lower planted area in the state of Sao Paulo due to poor conditions for planting and emergence;
  • Reduced area in the center-west as irrigated winter acreage switches to more profitable dry beans;
  • Large-scale imports of Argentine flour and pre-mix at the same price as Brazilian grain wheat.