MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil soy farmers expected to plant a record acreage after this year’s dismal crop

But estimates show corn could surpass 2011/12 soy crop in tonnage

Brazilian farmers will likely plant at least 26.2 million hectares with soybeans in the next crop, up 1.1 million hectares from the current 2011-12 crop, forecaster Agroconsult said Tuesday.

The acreage would be a record for Brazil, the world's No. 2 producer of soybeans.

Agroconsult director Andre Pessoa said soybean planting is expanding rapidly in the northern and northeastern states of Maranhao, Tocantins, Piaui and Bahia. Brazil's top soybean-growing state of Mato Grosso continues to expand its planted acreage as soybean farmers move onto degraded pasture land.

The expected increase in planting is good news for the recovery of Brazil’s soybean crop which reached a record 75.3 million tons and 24.3 million hectares in 2010/11 but this harvest (2011/12) is forecasted to fall to 65.2 million tons because of a severe drought in the in southern states.

The latest estimate is down by nearly 2 million tons from the 67.1 million tons forecast in March, said Agroconsult.

Thanks to strong exports of the 2010/11 crop late last year, Brazil could displace the United States as the largest exporter of soy, one of the world's most important sources of protein.

The forecast was the culmination of crop tours by several teams which covered 60.000 kilometres of Brazil's grain belt in the past several weeks.

Agroconsult's lead analyst, Andre Pessoa, said Brazil's corn crop may surpass the country's soybean output this year. He cited expectations for greater area and good yields from the second, or winter, corn crop that is now winding down planting.

Agroconsult forecast Brazil's total corn output this year at 64.6 million tons, up from the 63.7 million it projected in March.

Brazil became the world's third largest exporter of corn in recent years, shipping around 8 million to 10 million annually.