South American crop consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier says one of the biggest concerns for Brazilian farmers this year is the discovery of a new pest commonly known as the corn earworm or cotton bollworm. The pest caused significant damage to soybean, corn and cotton crops in western Bahia last year and is now being found in large numbers throughout the soybean producing region of central Brazil.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cordonnier left his South American crop estimates unchanged this week, but says speculation is growing that Safrinha corn acreage in Brazil will decilne due to poor margins for growing corn.
Dr. Cordonnier 2013-14 Soybean Estimates | Est. | Maximum | Minimum | 2012-13 |
in million metric tons | ||||
| Brazil | 88.0 | 90.0 | 83.0 | 82.0 |
| Argentina | 55.0 | 57.0 | 51.0 | 49.5 |
| Paraguay | 10.0 | 11.0 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| Bolivia | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| Uruguay | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| Total | 158.8 | 164.4 | 148.0 | 146.4 |
Dr. Cordonnier 2013-14 | Est. | Maximum | Minimum | 2012-13 |
in million metric tons | ||||
| Brazil | 72.0 | 74.0 | 66.0 | 81.0 |
| Argentina | 25.0 | 27.0 | 23.0 | 26.5 |
| Paraguay | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 3.0 |
| Bolivia | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| Uruguay | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Total | 100.6 | 105.1 | 92.0 | 111.6 |
