04/24/24 The 2023/24 Brazil Soybean Crop Yield Results Are In

My family wrapped up the 23/24 soybean harvest on our farm in Brazil.  Yields came in at about 59 bpa, which is around 10% below APH.    Yields started out promising at the start of harvest but the later planted fields were disappointing.  Considering the ultra-dry start to the season, we came out ok.  When I was at the farm in mid-December, things looked rather bleak.  By the third week of December the rainfall started to pick up again and the crops got caught back up.  We are more of a seed farm than a grain farm and so the quality of the seed means as much or more to us than the quantity of grain produced.  It rained a lot in March as harvest was progressing, which tends to damage germination levels.   Safrinha corn stages are quickly approaching 80% in the pollination to grain fill stage.  Earlier planted corn is “saved” at this point as they are at the ending stage of the crop cycle.  Meanwhile later planted corn is left extremely exposed to the start of the dry season.  The ten-day European forecast shows a giant donut hole forming over Central Brazil, encompassing major second crop corn production…