Brazil Corn Output May Fall More Than Expected on Mato Grosso

Corn output in Brazil, the world’s third-largest producer, may fall more than expected this year because rains delayed planting in center-western Mato Grosso state, according to the head of a growers’ association.

Mato Grosso, the second-biggest producing region after Parana state, could lose 2.2 million tons of corn after rains prevented growers from sowing 30 percent of the planted area last month, Glauber Silveira, head of Mato Grosso’s soybean and corn producers’ association, said today in an interview.

“Farmers are late on planting and may lose what they plant in March as rains may end before corn reaches full development,” Silveira said in a telephone interview today from Cuiaba. “It’s a risk to be taken.”

The Agriculture Ministry estimated corn output of 54.5 million tons on Feb. 9, compared with production of 56 million tons last year.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-04/brazil-corn-output-may-fall-more-than-expected-on-mato-grosso.html)