Brazil: Torrential rainfall wreaks havoc on soybean farms

Heavy rains in March caused losses to the soybean crop in Brazils No. 5 producing state Mato Grosso do Sul, although preliminary estimates of losses were still sketchy.The region received over 300 millimeters of rain in the first eight days of March, more than double the monthly average of rainfall that the state gets for the entire month. Many fields were flooded and will require time to dry out as rivers that feed the area are still rising due to showers at their sources. In some farms, most of the soy was spoiled or sprouted earlier in the pods, causing millions of dollars in damage. Producers expect that roughly 30 percent of their crops have been lost.Five cities have declared state of emergency and many were cut off as rising river waters destroyed bridges and filled the roads with piles of sodden earth. Nearly 3,000 people were forced to abandon their homes of lost everything to the raging floods.