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The final week of March 2023, week-ending April 1, was drier than normal for a large portion of Brazil’s growing regions. Dryness, combined with heat, will have dried soils out quickly, especially in Mato Grosso do Sul where this was the fourth hottest and third driest final week of March in 30+ years, according to data from WeatherTrends360.
The drier weather was helpful in finishing up any remaining second corn crop (safrinha) planting in central Brazil, where planting was much behind schedule due to too much rainfall. In Argentina, drier trends returned to the growing regions of the country and this was the 8 th driest final week of March in 30+ years, according to WeatherTrends360.
The first week of April, week-ending April 8 , will bring wetter and cooler weather across portions of central Brazil. However, not all of Brazil will see wetter weather. Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul are likely to see drier than normal conditions in the first full week of April 2023. The rainfall is going to be crucial to the success of the safrinha crop, a large majority of which was planted outside the ideal planting window. When planting occurs outside the ideal window, the crop becomes more susceptible to the weather as the crop will be maturing during Brazil’s dry season.
Additionally, later-planted corn is more likely to be exposed to frost as the colder months arrive. April rainfall will be critical for the safrinha crop as sufficient soil moisture will be required to the hold the crop over when the dry season hits in May. If, however, the dry season sets in earlier than scheduled, this could be disastrous for the crop, especially with much of it having been planted late.
