Good morning! Today, we talk about the credit woes troubling Brazilian farmers in Mato Grosso. More detail on Jair Bolsonaro’s coup plot. And what new inflation data tells us.
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Don’t call it a crisis yet
Abiove, an association of oilseed producers, once again lowered its estimates for Brazil’s next soybean harvest to 156.1 million, down from 160.3 million in December. Still, Abiove is more optimistic than other organizations.
- The National Supply Company (Conab) expects the 2023-2024 harvest to reach 155.3 million tons of soybeans, while private consultancies are looking at ever lower numbers.
Bad timing. Climate conditions have been brutal for farmers. In the South, excessive rainfall has hurt productivity. In the Center-West, Brazil’s agricultural belt, the problem is worse. Extreme heat and erratic rainfall patterns will wreak havoc on results. In Mato Grosso, the biggest soybean-producing state, producers expect crop yield losses of 21 percent.
👉 Why it matters. These problems come at a bad time for farmers, who are increasingly mired in debt and unable to repay it. According...