Brazil may achieve record grain harvest in 2018/2019 season

According to the ninth survey conducted by the National Supply Company (Conab), the Brazilian grain harvest in 2018/2019 season may reach 238.9 million tons, a growth of 4.9% or 11.2 million tons compared to the previous season. The total area of cultivation is also expected to increase by 1.9%, totalling 62.9 million hectares. 
 

According to the study, these positive statistics are mainly due to a growth in corn production, which is expected to reach 97 million tons, an increase of 20% compared to the 2017/2018 harvest season. One of the highlights of the season is an increase in the production of second harvest corn, which was made possible by the early soybean harvest and a favourable climatic window.
 

The production of soybean, one of the Brazil’s major agribusiness commodities, is expected to reach 114.8 million tons, down 3.7% compared to the previous season, but is still the second highest figure in Conab's statistics. Despite a fall in productivity, soybean has proven to be a product with strong liquidity and price support in the domestic market. 
 

The statistics also highlight the commitment of many farmers to growing grain, which is proven by the fact that the total area used for planting soybean grew by 1.9% and exceeded 35.82 million hectares.
 

Cotton is another crop that benefited from a price increase. Considering the good performance of the market price of cotton, Brazilian producers invested in the crop and produced around 2.6 million tons of cotton. The total area used to grow the crop registered a record growth of 36.2%.
 

The planting of winter crops has also grown rapidly and should be completed by the first week of July, with total national production expected to reach 6.74 million tons, in a cultivated area of 2.5 million hectares. Among the major crops frown at this time of year are wheat, with an estimated total production of 5.46 million tons, oats at 820 thousand tons, and barley at 353 thousand tons.