In early November, the Irish Farmers Journal’s beef and deputy editor Adam Woods travelled to Brazil. On his travels with our photographer Philip Doyle, he met with farmers planting soybeans near the capital of Brazil – Brazilia.

Adam and the team had just travelled about 1,000km from Primavera do Leste, which he called "soya city" because over the past 40 years it has been built up by the soya industry and mills.

The field being planted was 864ac. Six tractors were working with 8m drills and the crop was going in after wheat. The crop was being planted about a month later than normal as there had been very little rain. It should be harvested around February to allow another wheat crop to be planted. About 49m hectares of soybeans are forecast to be planted for the 2025/2026 crop.

ADVERTISEMENT

Last week, Reuters reported that soybean production in Brazil in 2025/2026 is forecast to reach a record 177.6m tonnes. These figures are from crop agency Conab, which estimates soy exports at 112.1m tonnes, with China being the biggest buyer of the product.

At present, there are concerns around soya supply here in Ireland and Europe as EU Deforestation Regulations are due to come in after 31 December 2025. These rules require proof that products like soya, coffee and beef are not coming from land deforested after 31 December 2020 and some companies are reporting difficulties in implementing the regulations.

You can watch the video here.