Rio Grande do Sul, one of the biggest soy and rice producers in Brazil continues to experience intense flooding. France 24 Dot Com says the region had been counting on a record harvest of over 22 million tons of soybeans, but extreme weather could affect five million tons of the harvest. Before the rain began, a quarter of the soybean fields were left to be harvested.
Nilvo Bosa, president of a small farmer cooperative, says, “In a year, we have suffered drought and three floods, including this one, which reached levels we’ve never seen before.” He also says farmers in Rio Grande do Sul cannot access their fields at all because they are under 13 to 16 feet of water.
About 15 percent of Brazil’s rice was waiting to get harvested before the floods came, and the government has already announced plans to import rice to counter any potential shortfall.