Brazil’s farmers grapple with higher cost as soy rust cases rise

By Nayara Figueiredo

SAO PAULO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Brazil’s rainy summer this year has increased cases of soy rust on soybean crops, requiring farmers to boost pesticide applications that raised their fungicide bills by almost 10%, industry insiders said.

Through Thursday, around 160 cases of the disease had been reported during the 2022-23 season in ten states, according to data from the Anti-Soybean Rust Consortium.

A week earlier, there were 144 cases, up from 88 at the same time in the previous season.

“Soy rust is more prevalent this year,” said Matheus Pereira, director of agribusiness consultancy Patria AgroNegocios. “Rain favors fungal reproduction and we are noticing a need for increased fungicide applications.”

Despite more cases of the disease, Brazil’s soy output prospects are excellent as the country is poised to produce a record between 152 million and 154 million tonnes.

In Brazil’s center-western farm belt, the cost of inputs including seeds, pesticides and fertilizers was on average 4,300 reais ($842) per hectare this season, up 28% from the previous one, Patria data showed.

That does not factor in additional fungicide application costs, Patria’s Pereira said.

Ana Kowalski, an analyst at a Parana farm syndicate, said cases were expected to increase in Southern states as the weather is wetter this year. She said some farmers had to double fungicide applications, raising costs by as much as 85% depending on the case.

Parana state has the most soy rust cases in 2022-23 with 56 reports, according to the Consortium. Cases were also reported in Mato Grosso do Sul, but occurred at the end of the cycle, posing a lesser risk, a local farmer group said.

In top grower Mato Grosso, the disease was prevented by alternating the use of chemicals to prevent widespread infections, a farmer association said.

($1 = 5.1062 reais)

(Reporting by Nayara Figueiredo; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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