Brazil’s State of Parana May Follow Mato Grosso in Limiting Soybean Production

Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso has prohibited the planting of safrinha soybeans beginning in the 2015/16 growing season in an effort to stop the spread of soybean rust and other pests and diseases from season to season. The state has lengthened its soybean-free period to 138 days beginning on May 1 and ending on September 15. Under the previous timeline, the state’s soybean-free period began on June 15, allowing farmers enough time to plant two early maturing crops during the same season.

Now, the state of Parana is following in Mato Grosso’s footsteps. The state has issued a soybean-free period beginning June 15, after which time no live soybean plants are allowed in fields, alongside fields, along roadways, or along storage or transportation facilities. If live soybean plants are found, farmers will have ten days to remove them or be faced with fines.

But with Mato Grosso now extending its soybean free period to 138 days, the state of Parana is considering whether its 92 day soybean free period should be extended as well. Seed producers are arguing against an extension claiming that a safrinha soybean crop is needed to increase their seed supply, but agricultural scientists in Parana are pushing for the complete elimination of a safrinha soybean crop, or at least limiting cultivation to only certain areas of the state.

Over the next two months the debates on the topic are expected to intensify, as any final ruling establishing the start date of the 2016 soybean free period will need to be decided quickly to allow farmers to plan their 2015/16 planting.