Paraguay expected to harvest record corn crop

Farmers in Paraguay are expecting to harvest a record safrinha corn crop, which is very good news after their disastrous 2021/22 soybean crop. The safrinha corn is 27% harvested nationwide with the harvest surpassing 50% in some areas. There had been some concerns about the quality of the corn, but those concerns have eased and the quality of the corn will be acceptable for export.

According to Ester Storch, director of DASAGRO - Corretora & Consultora de Agronegocios, the 2021/22 corn production in Paraguay is now estimated in the range of 5.8 to 6.3 million tons, which is up from her previous estimate of 5.5 to 5.8 million tons. She expectsa Paraguay will export 3.6 million tons of corn in 2022.

The safrinha corn was planted early and the weather has cooperated during the entire growing season. In contrast, the 2021/22 soybean crop in Paraguay was planted late and suffered from a severe drought that resulted in a 60% decline in the soybean production. In fact, some of the soybeans were not even harvested which allowed farmers to plant their safrinha corn earlier than normal.

A record large corn crop would normally lead to concerns about a lack of storage, but that is not the case this year. Since the soybean crop was so disappointing, a lot of silos that normally would be full of soybeans are actually empty. The corn will be consumed domestically, barged down the Parana River to export terminals in Argentina, or trucked across the border to neighboring Brazil.