Frequently Asked Questions about the Brazilian CropSpotters

Who are the CropSpotters?

The Brazilian CropSpotters is a group of ten Brazilian farmers—plus a couple of backups for times when they can’t come in off the fields—who report each week on what’s happening on their operations.

They come from several growing areas across Brazil, and represent a cross-section of Brazilian farming. Some of the CropSpotters’ farms are relatively small. A couple of them are very big. Some farm on rented ground. You’re likely to get a good overview of Brazilian agriculture—farmer to farmer—by following the CropSpotters.

How did you select the Brazil CropSpotters?

We wanted to get somewhat representative coverage of Brazil’s vast growing area — especially that for soybeans. Places where the newest farms are going in. Places where they’ve been growing soybeans since the 1970s. Places suffering from serious freight cost challenges, and other places nearer the ports.

Then we asked around for local leaders at the farm associations and local government offices, and whittled our list down to ten.

What is a 'Prime CropSpotter'?

From time to time, the CropSpotters staff selects two (or three) Prime CropSpotters. Using a formula that involves number of visits, detail of data and other factors, we choose a handful of South American farmers who merit Prime ranking.

Subscribers get access to all the South American farmers featured on cropspotters.com - including these elite monitors. You get lots of and timely information with cropspotters. You get the most detailed and sought-after reports by subscibing-- and being eligible for Prime Cropspotters.

Can I write to the CropSpotters?

You are welcome to do so, through the Question of the Week. We also invite you to leave your comments in the general comments box.

We’ll pass most of your thoughts on to the Brazilian CropSpotters. But, just like you, they are eager to keep their in-boxes relatively clean, so we don’t provide their contact information.

How do you translate the CropSpotters?

The CropSpotters speak Portuguese, so we do our best to translate their words and expressions for you. Our translating team is a U.S. born ag communications specialist who grew up on a farm in Tennessee, and a Brazilian professional who grew up on a farm in the state of Minas Gerais.

Some of the CropSpotters send us their reports by e-mail, which we translate and post. Some don’t have internet, and we phone them and boil down the conversation. In either case, we strive not only to accurately pass on the content of what is reported, but do our best to capture the turn of phrase.

It’s not enough just to know that a stink bug is a pecevejo. We also strive to capture the way an idea is expressed. We think you’ll see that the CropSpotters’ personalities come through in their reports.

What’s a hectare?

We try to put all the Brazil CropSpotters’ measurements and money figures into acres, dollars and bushels. But they often speak in terms of the Brazilian currency, the real.

And not only do they think in hectares (one hectare equals 2.47 acres) and sacas (one saca is 2.2 bushels,) but sometimes in alqueres, which can be of at least two different sizes.

There are some excellent and free metric calculators on the web. Try typing “metric conversion” into your search engine. Currency conversions can be found on other sites. Even though we do our best to get all that mopped up for you, we sometimes may miss one, here or there.

How many countries grow soybeans?

A number of countries around the world grow soybeans. But only a few grow commercially-important quantities. The United States, Brazil and Argentina are the three most important soybean-producers

Is this site specifically for soy bean growers or are other crops involved as well?

This site is about farmers and farming. We pay a lot of attention to soybeans, but Brazilian producers—like their American counterparts—rarely grow just one crop. You’ll see lots of talk of corn, livestock and even jatropha curcas in the CropSpotters’ reports.