Ontario Grain Farmer June/July 2021

Rubin states that while profit margins are high and continue to grow, Brazilian farmers find themselves running into capacity issues. Farmers wish to expand their production but are not able to due to capacity limitations in addition to the rising costs of land. As logistics and infrastructure improvements are made, exporting corn and soybeans becomes easier and export numbers in Brazil will increase. YIELD INCREASES Rubin points out that one of the largest areas for improvement on farm in Brazil is through yield increases. Soybean yield is expected to reach 52 bushels per acre (bu/ac) up two per cent from 2019/2020 and corn yield is expected to reach 86 bu/ac which is down four per cent from last season. Brazil uses the highest tech available to them in the form of seeds, crop inputs, and technology; however, Rubin identifies yields as an area for improvement among Brazilian farmers. Another issue that Brazilian corn and soybean farmers are facing is their inability to sell their crop well. “There is a 50 per cent difference between contract prices and cash prices,” says Rubin. Caitlin Kroetsch is the communications coordinator co-op for Grain Farmers of Ontario. l ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 29 JUNE/JULY 2021 The Brazilian government has imposed programs to increase their corn exports.