Tidbits
Governor of Brazil’s state of Rondônia (NW of Mato Grosso) issued a decree Sunday declaring a state of emergency due to the worst drought the State of Rondônia has ever experienced as crops of coffee, corn, soybeans, beans and rice are being drastically affected.
Diego Meurer of Northern Rondônia, in the Amazon region, has never experienced this situation, soybeans ready to harvest with a yield of 8 bags per hectare (7.1 bu per acre), 80% less production compared to last year, but (parts of) Mato Grosso are much worse.
The map below shows the expected rainfall as a percent of normal for South America for Dec 24 through Jan 1. The oval encompasses ~80% Brazil’s soybean production area, which looks to have 25% to 75% of normal rainfall.
