SAO PAULO: Brazil’s 2023/24 soybean planting has reached as of last Thursday 30% of the expected area, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 13 percentage points from the previous week. Sowing continues to lag behind last year’s levels, when 34% of the areas had been planted at the same time, AgRural said in a statement.

The recent pace was driven by top grain producing state Mato Grosso, which now leads fieldwork in the country, but AgRural cautioned that adverse weather conditions might still hurt farmers in the region. “The strong advance in sowing in Mato Grosso happened amid increased risks brought by the combination of very intense heat and still irregular rainfall,” the consultancy said.

“It is essential that showers forecast for this week are confirmed in the state, where cases of need for replanting have increased, despite still being considered isolated.”