Daily News

A blast of new cold air this week caused frosts in central and southern Brazil, threatening the local second-season corn and wheat crops. It was less than a month since the last cold air damaged some crops.

The Brazilian Agricultural Meteorological Company (Rural Clima) stated that the main sugarcane and coffee producing areas in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais were affected by adverse weather. Parana State, which has just finished planting wheat, is also affected, but the extent of its impact has not yet been assessed. The company's meteorological expert Marc Antonio Santos said that crops have indeed suffered damage, and the impact of frost cannot be truly quantified, but we know it is serious. The actual situation will be understood in the next few days. He said that this polar air mass will begin to weaken from Wednesday, but next Saturday a new cold air will affect Rio Grande do Sul, where the local wheat crop is in its early growth stage.

The frost at the end of June destroyed the second season of corn. AgRural, a consulting agency, said that the current too cold weather has made the outlook for crop yields that have been affected more complicated. AgRural analyst Adriano Gomos said that for the second crop of corn, the areas that escaped the frost at the end of June are currently suffering from frost and may suffer losses, especially the crops that are still in the filling period. Immature crops suffer the most from frost, depending on the intensity of the frost.

According to data released by the Department of Rural Economy (Deral) of Parana State on Tuesday, more than 40% of the second-season corn is currently more vulnerable to frost damage, 4% enter the flowering period, and 37% enter the mature period. Deral analyst Edma Gevasio said that the impact of this week's frost can only be assessed after 7 days. As far as wheat is concerned, 9% of the wheat in Parana state enters the flowering period, and the wheat in this period is more susceptible to damage by cold weather. Of these 9% of wheat crops, a large part is in northern Parana, where these crops were less affected when the first frost occurred. But in the south, midwest, and southwest, there are some fast-growing wheat crops, and some problems will definitely arise. Production will definitely be affected, but it is currently limited to these areas.