An uneven rainy season so far in Brazil has left some soybean farmers with drought-related losses while others face fungal outbreaks and problems associated with too much rain.

Soybean growers in the states of Parana, Goias and No. 1 producer Mato Grosso are reporting the first outbreaks of Asian rust, a fungus that can cause crop yields to fall, local consultancy Celeres said in a weekly bulletin.

The disease occurs amid excessive rainfall, which has been particularly heavy in Mato Grosso and Goias. Leonardo Menezes, an analyst at Celeres, said the rain makes it hard for farmers to get their machinery into the fields to spray fungicide.

So far, Asian rust isn't a major concern. Only 75 cases have been registered in Brazil so far, compared with 321 at this time last year.

"In relation to other years, it's not so worrisome," Menezes said. "But it still affects productivity."

Continuing rains are also forcing some growers to delay their harvest. About 28% of Mato Grosso's soybean crop is mature, the highest of any state, while farmers had only harvested about 1% of their planted acreage, as of last week, Menezes said.

Harvesting delays could muck up the plans of some producers in Mato Grosso who had hoped to get an early start to planting their winter corn crop, he added. By planting winter corn earlier, growers reduce the risk of Brazil's dry season, which usually starts in April, stunting that crop's development.

In other areas, particularly southernmost Rio Grande do Sul state, insufficient rainfall continues to top the list of concerns, Menezes said.

But Dulphe Pinheiro Machado, technical manager of state crop agency Emater, said the situation in Rio Grande do Sul has improved with recent rains that could preclude a worst-case scenario of widespread crop losses. A drought starting in mid-November decimated the state's summer corn crop, which is now expected to fall short of initial forecasts by about 40%.

"Temperatures get very high, and then it rains at the end of the day," Machado said. While rainfall totals have remained irregular, Rio Grande do Sul's driest regions are finally being quenched.

"The situation hasn't been resolved, but the problem has been reduced," Machado said.

Private forecaster Somar Meteorologia predicts light-to-moderate showers in central and western Rio Grande do Sul on Tuesday and Wednesday.

-By Paul Kiernan, Dow Jones Newswires; (+55)11-3544-7074 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (+55)11-3544-7074 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; paul.kiernan@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 23, 2012 14:31 ET (19:31 GMT)
DJ Uneven Rainfall Causes Headaches For Brazil Soybean Farmers->copyright