Second-crop corn was planted on approximately 40% of soybean acreage in Brazil

The trend in Brazil in recent years has been for farmers to be more productive with the land that has already been cleared instead of clearing more land. It allows for more sustainable crop production while decreasing the level of deforestation. Brazilian researchers and farmers have already made great strides in sustainability by producing three quarters of Brazil’s corn as a double crop following soybeans. Brazilian scientists have developed short-cycle soybean and corn varieties adopted to the tropical environment in central Brazil allowing for more of the soybeans to be followed by a second crop of corn. During the 2022/23 growing season, safrinha corn was planted on approximately 40% of the soybean acreage in Brazil. The state of Mato Grosso had the highest percentage soybeans followed by corn at 64.2% followed by Mato Grosso do Sul at 60.4%. This double crop system prevented millions of hectares of land being cleared to produce corn. A typical farm in Mato Grosso might ...