
Soybean and corn planting work for the new season (2025/26) continues to advance at a strong pace in the North American producing belt. The favorable weather has allowed for good progress of machinery in the main producing states in recent weeks, in addition to also ensuring a very satisfactory initial development of the crops already sown.
According to Luiz Fernando Roque, Market Intelligence Coordinator at Hedgepoint, the planting pace, both for soybeans and corn, is above that recorded in the same period last year. At that time, the progress had already been considered good. In addition, the current pace also exceeds the average of the last five harvests for the same period.
“Given this, and the positive climate so far, we can conclude that the new North American harvest is off to an excellent start. The outlook is very promising, with the possibility of full production. There is also an expectation of record yields.”
However, it is important to highlight that the soil moisture situation in states in the western and northwestern parts of the producing belt is below ideal and lower than what we saw at the same time last season. This brings a greater need for regular rainfall in these regions in the coming weeks”, highlights Roque.
Updated planting figures indicate accelerated pace
Regarding the evolution of soybean planting, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as of May 18, 66% of the area had been planted. The previous week, the percentage was 48%. In the same period last year, the percentage was 50%, while the average of the last five harvests for the period is 53%.
Regarding corn, the USDA indicates that as of May 18, 78% of the area had been planted. In the previous week, the percentage was 62%, while in the same period last year the percentage was 67%. The average of the last five harvests for the period is 73%.
“The current climate scenario indicates great production potential for North American crops so far, which supports the USDA’s initial sentiment of full corn and soybean harvests, with likely record yields. However, it is important to highlight that we are only at the beginning of crop development, and the weather will be a decisive factor in the months of June, July and August,” explains Roque.
Climate projections and challenges for the coming months
“We also highlight that, although the USDA expects record soybean productivity, the trend is for a smaller harvest in this new season, since the area planted with the oilseed is expected to have a significant decrease in relation to last year. On the other hand, corn production may reach a new record, with the possibility of surpassing the 400 million ton level in the 2025/26 season due to the increase in area and possible record productivity”, he says.
The Hedgepoint report considers that, looking at the weather in the coming weeks, climate maps now point to a period of high humidity over the southern half of the production belt. This scenario is expected to occur between May 23 and 29. The expectation is that this excess humidity could prevent the machines from advancing better.
The northern half of the belt is expected to have lower humidity, although the states to the west are expected to receive slightly higher rainfall volumes. Between May 30 and June 5, humidity is expected to return to the entire producing belt. This return will occur more broadly. However, the highest accumulations are still expected for the states in the southern half.
Source: Notícias Agrícolas