MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Estimates of record crop and revenue for Brazilian farmers

Brazilian farmers are set to receive a record 85 billion US dollars this year riding on high commodity prices and a bigger crop. This represents a 14.4% increase over the previous year in real value, according to the latest data from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

Booming international prices, low global reserves of grains, the increase in demand and pressure from the growing industry of bio-fuels have contributed to such an extraordinary performance said Jose Garcia Gasques, Planification coordinator of the Agriculture ministry. Sugar cane, soybeans and corn make the bulk of that sum actually 57.3%.The final numbers are based on data from the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute and the renowned Getulio Vargas Foundation. Most of Brazil's commodities are expected to do better this year than in 2007 with the greatest revenue increases for rice, oranges, potatoes, coffee, beans, oilseeds, corn, pepper and soy. Only cotton, bananas, cacao, sugar cane, tobacco, tomatoes, wheat and grapes will see a slight decline because of lower volumes of production and possibly more stable prices. The overall grain and oilseed crop for the 2007/08 year is estimated in 139.3 million tons, which is 5.8% over 2006/07.