Brazilian Coffee: Brazilian Coffee Bean Regions Get Welcome Rain After Drought - Brazil's Coffee Production World Ranking

According to a Reuters report from its São Paulo bureau on May 20th, Brazil's main coffee-producing regions are expected to start raining from that weekend, with rainfall growing increasingly intense over the following days. The rain may delay Brazil's upcoming coffee harvest, but it will have a beneficial impact on next year's production.

According to analysts, some areas in southern Minas Gerais state will receive rainfall amounts reaching 80 millimeters (3.15 inches). This rainfall will ease the land drought caused by nearly three months without meaningful rain.

Adriano Rabelo de Rezende, technical coordinator of the Minasul Cooperative, welcomed the news: "Having rainfall is a good thing, and we are very happy, because the current situation has been very severe. The water reserves in the soil are already very low. Although this rainfall will delay our harvest work, it is beneficial for the plants and will have a positive impact on next year's crop yield."

Brazil's Arabica coffee alternates between high-yield and low-yield years, and the country is currently in its biennial off-year for coffee production. Over the past few months the weather has been unusually dry, which means this year's harvest will come in lower than usual.

Gil Barabach, coffee analyst at the Safras & Mercado consulting firm, noted that because rainfall intensity in Brazil is relatively low at this time of year, the impact on the current harvest will not be significant.

The coffee harvesting process requires farmers to pick the cherries, remove the skin and pulp, and then lay the parchment-covered beans outdoors to dry for several days. So as a rule, rain is not a welcome sight for coffee farmers. There is also the risk of damage to bean quality: rain can knock ripe coffee cherries off the trees.

Barabach added that the precipitation will be very helpful for replenishing the reservoirs used for irrigation.

Fernando Maximiliano, coffee analyst at a financial services organization, said that rainfall during this time of year is usually a worrying event, but this year is different from previous years — this rainfall is actually a good thing.

Maximiliano stated that in the coming days he will visit the coffee-growing regions to conduct new assessments, and the Brazilian government is expected to release updated harvest forecast data next week.

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