02/12/2025 Low Profitability Expected for Brazilian Corn Growers

PLEASE REFER TO THE BROKER COMMENTARY PAGE FOR UPDATES!! As suggested in prior reports, Brazil’s soybean harvest pace is picking up and will likely speed up further as the forecast clears. Going into February 9th, harvest overall lagged by 5% behind the 5-year average at 17% complete, compared to 22% historically. However, as rainfall has let up, they are quickly closing the gap, and it is possible that harvest pace will be caught up to the long-term average by the end of the month. Mato Grosso has been lagging but should be able to ramp up soon. Remember that a significant portion of the crop was planted in a two-week window and therefore farmers had time to plan ahead to beef up their harvesting capacity. As the harvest picks up, this allows the second crop corn planting to pick up as well. Roughly one-fourth of the second crop corn has been planted and we also believe planting pace will increase as well. There are disagreements over what the ideal period is for planting second crop corn. Ideally, we believe the second crop of corn should be planted by February 20th to reach its full yield potential. But that doesn’t mean it is all…