Benedito Mendonça
Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – Brazil's soy and corn are the crops that have been hardest hit by drought this year, reports the National [Food] Supply Company (Conab). The soy harvest last year reached 61.4 million tons. This year it is estimated that it will just barely top 50 million tons. That is a drop of over 18%. As for the corn harvest, it will be down over 19%.

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the drought was most severe, the soy harvest is down almost 75%. And the corn harvest is down around 68%. The other southern states, Santa Catarina and Paraná, along with Mato Grosso do Sul, also had significant losses.

The bright spot in agriculture is summer-harvest rice, which is expected to rise in production by 5.2%.

As for total grain production this year, Conab says it should reach 112.4 million tons, down 5.7% from last year.

Translator: Allen Bennett