SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian government crop forecaster Conab on Thursday trimmed its outlook for the 2011-12 soybean crop, saying output will probably fall 5.4% to 71.29 million metric tons due to lower yields.

Conab's previous estimate called for the upcoming soybean crop to fall within a range of 71.49 million tons to 72.97 million tons. The latest forecast, Conab's third for the upcoming grains crop, was based on average yields from the past five years and adjusted for technological advances, since it's too early in the season to evaluate plants' development.

Conab estimates that the acreage planted with soybeans will expand 0.7% to 24.35 million hectares. Yields are seen slumping 6% from the previous crop's excellent numbers to 2,928 kilograms of soybeans per hectare.

Brazil is typically the world's No. 2 soy producer and exporter after the U.S., though the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently forecast that Brazil's exports would surpass those of the U.S. in 2011-12.

-By Paul Kiernan, Dow Jones Newswires; (+55)11-3544-7074; paul.kiernan@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2011 09:29 ET (14:29 GMT)