Brazilian farmers will likely produce a smaller amount of corn and soya in the 2017/18 season due to less favorable weather than the prior crop year, food supply and statistics agency Conab said on Tuesday. In its first forecast for the 2017/18 crop, Conab estimated Brazilian grain production at between 224.1 million tonnes and 228.2 million tonnes, compared with 238.5 million tonnes in the prior cycle.
The lower end of the range would represent a 6 percent drop in output. "The highly favourable climate conditions that contributed to a record grain output last season are unlikely to be repeated," Conab said in a statement. Soya and corn will account for about 89 percent of Brazil's grains output. The government now expects areas planted with soyabeans in Brazil to grow by an average of 2.7 percent from the prior season to up to 35.2 million hectares. "Soya has been offering higher liquidity and yield prospects compared with other crops," Conab said. At the same time, the corn area planted in the summer may drop by up to 10.1 percent as more farmers decide to replace lower priced corn with soya crops, Conab said.