According to Brazilian Ag Consulting owner Kory Melby, the slow planting pace of Brazil’s soybean crop is more of an issue for the second crop cotton and corn. “Cotton needs to go in January, corn needs to be planted in February. Due to the late planting of much of the first crop, farmers are just looking at the best scenario,” says Melby. “If I’ve got a poor soybean crop coming today and I need to wait until January to harvest a poor crop, am I better off killing the crop that’s there and getting the cotton and/or second crop corn in on time?” Abandoning the first crop soybeans is a tough decision. “Those farmers all have contracts. There’s lots of dynamics to make these tough decisions. It’s a late harvest this year. Yes, there will be some good yields, but there has also been some abandonment.”
