Brazil’s soybean harvest for the 2023/24 cycle had reached 63% of the planted area as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 8 percentage points from the previous week.

The figure was also above the 62% seen at the same time a year earlier.

Harvest in the Matopiba region and Rio Grande do Sul state is driving the pace of work, as these are areas that have a later calendar and the planting was delayed due to adverse weather.

“But the expectation is for good yields in both cases, since these later areas have been favored by good rainfall,” AgRural said.

Planting for the country’s second corn crop was nearly done at 97%, compared to 93% a week ago and 91% at the same time last year, according to AgRural.

“With work already finished or nearing completion in the main producing regions, the focus is now on the warmer and drier weather in March,” the consultancy said, which is already causing concern for producers, especially in Parana state and in the southern part of Mato Grosso do Sul state.