Brazil Faces a Corn Shortage

After suffering a drop in soybean yields due to a drought this past year, is now facing a large shortage in its corn harvest. While many farmers had planted the corn seeds during good weather conditions, more hot and dry weather hit Brazil causing the second harvest of crops that were in the process of forming to die out.

Farmers are struggling to keep up with demand during the 60 day drought period. Since the damage has already caused the crops to die out, they cannot be revived even if the drought ends soon. Past winter corn harvests have produced above .

After Brazil improved its farming technology, it experienced a boost in productivity, making the country the . Farmers have already resorted to cutting the corn to make silage, and are expecting losses in income due to the high production costs with the shortage in corn yields.

As a result of the shortage, corn prices have surged and are . Brazilian farmers have turned to the , , and for imports to keep up with demand. The government of Brazil has reduced taxes on corn imports from 8% to zero for the next six months in efforts to keep prices stable.