Oct 15, 2025
Lack of Storage Capacity in Mato Grosso Ongoing Concern
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The president of the Soybean & Corn Producers Association of Mato Grosso (Aprosoja/MT), Diego Bertuol, continues to sound the alarm concerning the grain storage deficit in Mato Grosso, which is by far Brazil's largest grain producing state.
Bertuol contends that the record volume of resources provided by the federal government has not translated to real credit for the Brazilian producer. Farmers are reporting struggling to qualify for production loans much less for loans to construct storage units.
Farmers indicate that they need lower interest rates than what were offered by the federal government in the 2025/26 Harvest Plan, and a longer grace period to pay back loans. Interest rates on government issued production loans are 2% higher than last year with small producers paying 8%, medium producers paying 12%, and large producers paying market rates which are in the range of 15%.
The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimates that the state will produce in excess of 47 million tons of soybeans and 54 million tons of corn in 2025/26. As a result, the storage deficit in the state will be more than 52 million tons and growing every year.
Mato Grosso is the worst state in Brazil when you compare production and grain storage capacity. Storage is expensive to build, and current interest rates are not viable, especially for small and medium-size producers. The smaller the storage unit, the more expensive it is per bag stored. Therefore, small and medium-sized producers are most impacted.
Brazil produced more than 350 million tons of grain in 2024/25 and at the same time, Brazil has a storage deficit of more than 120 million tons. The lack of storage is not just an individual farmer problem, but a national food security issue as well. Any unforeseen event at a Brazilian port or geopolitical crisis could leave Brazil without the means to move the grain and without the conditions to store the grain resulting in a significant portion of the crop potentially being lost.
This situation has been years in the making, and it is getting worse because grain production is expanding at a faster pace than storage construction. Without sufficient storage infrastructure, producers lose some of their autonomy, it reduces their profit margins, and Brazil compromises part of its competitiveness and food security.
It's easy to explain the problem, but much harder to come up with solutions. Any solution must include lower interest rates, reduced bureaucracy, and reduced environmental requirements. Below is a typical commercial storage facility in Mato Grosso. The state desperately needs to build many more of these facilities across the state if the storage deficit is to be reduced. More importantly, farmers need to be able to build on-farm storage. Currently, it is estimated that approximately 15% of Brazil's grain is stored on-farm.