SAO PAULO: The return of rains over Brazilian soyabean-growing areas is disrupting harvesters, slowing down field work in the world’s largest soya producer and potentially delaying planting of the country’s second corn crop.

Agribusiness research firm AgRural estimated Brazilian soya farmers had harvested just 0.7% of the planted area through Jan. 21, a 0.3 percentage point rise from the previous week, limited by heavy rainfall.

Last year, farmers nationwide had sowed an estimated 4.2% of the area, AgRural said. Agroconsult, another agribusiness consultancy, estimates no more than 5 million tonnes of the new soya crop will be harvested in January, less than half the volume for the month last year. The delayed harvest means the country is poised to export less in the first weeks of 2021 than last year, according shipping data.

Planting and now harvesting delays may also push back sowing of Brazil’s second corn crop, which is planted after soyabeans are removed from fields.