Brazil’s coffee harvest is running behind schedule in the country’s main producing regions after above-average rainfall in late June. In Minas Gerais, which accounts for roughly half of Brazil’s coffee output, 30% of the crop has been harvested so far, versus a historical average of 40% for this time of year, according to the state’s Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company (Emater-MG). Banco do Brasil cuts farm lending for second straight crop season El Niño and rising costs discourage wheat sowing in Brazil Coffee and milk drive revenue growth at Minas Gerais cooperatives June’s rains slowed harvesting in the Cerrado and southern Minas Gerais and could compromise bean quality. More rain forecast for July 13 and 14—already linked to the El Niño pattern—could also weigh on next season’s productivity. Sérgio Regina, technical coordinator at Emater-MG, said winter rains cause coffee trees to flower prematurely. Those blossoms then get knocked off during harvesting, cutting into fruit production for the following crop. For the current harvest, Emater-MG projects Minas Gerais production of 31.8 million 60-kilogram bags, from 25.7 million bags last season, though down slightly from its earlier forecast of 32.4 million bags. Regina said only a small volume of coffee has been processed so far, making it hard to gauge quality losses at this stage. “Whoever could afford to pause harvesting after the rains to collect the coffee that had fallen to the ground and dry it out. It’s expensive, labor-intensive, and it delays the harvest,” he said. Nationwide, the 2026/27 harvest had reached 52% of the crop as of July 1, according to the latest survey from Safras & Mercado—down from 60% a year earlier. Gil Barabach of Safras & Mercado said harvesting advanced 8 percentage points from the previous week, but that pace hasn’t yet translated into greater market supply, since drying and processing the coffee still takes time. Growers in southern Minas Gerais and the Cerrado Mineiro region report rising bean losses from the rain and falling quality, which is expected to squeeze profitability. The Regional Coffee Growers Cooperative of Guaxupé (Cooxupé), the world’s largest coffee cooperative, said harvesting had reached 24.9% of its members’ planted area as of June 28, down from 31.4% at the same point in 2025. By region, harvesting stood at 30% in Matas de Minas, 29.8% in southern Minas Gerais, 26.5% in São Paulo state, and 16.2% in the Cerrado Mineiro. At the Cerrado Coffee Growers Cooperative (Expocacer), Brazil’s second-largest coffee exporter, harvesting had reached 32% of an estimated 2.86-million-bag crop as of July 3—up 5 percentage points from the previous week, but compared with the 42% recorded at the same point in 2025. Gustavo Vieira de Carvalho grows coffee on 550 hectares in Capelinha, in northern Minas Gerais, and another 150 hectares in Areado, in the south of the state. He’s harvested 50% of his crop in Capelinha and 80% in Areado. Vieira, who also runs a coffee processing and storage business for other growers, said producers in the Areado area have harvested only about 30% of their crop so far, putting processing operations roughly 10 days behind schedule. Coffee farm in Minas Gerais TIPUANA/Divulgacao “With all the rain, a lot of coffee has fallen to the ground, and some beans are already sprouting. There’s going to be very little premium coffee for export and a lot of medium-quality coffee. With the moisture, we’re seeing a lot of riado- and rio-grade coffee,” he said. Under Brazil’s official coffee classification system, quality is ranked in ascending order as rio zona, rio, riado, hard, soft, and strictly soft. A 60-kilogram bag of hard-grade coffee currently sells for around R$1,650, compared with roughly R$1,200 for rio-grade coffee. Harvesting has also fallen behind in the Triângulo Mineiro region. Hemerson Bovi, a producer in Monte Carmelo, said mechanical harvesting typically causes losses of 15% to 25% of production—but this year, because of the rain, losses have reached 50%. “Our priority right now is collecting the coffee that’s already fallen to the ground. We still haven’t been able to get harvesting equipment into the fields because the soil hasn’t dried out,” Bovi said. Bovi, who farms 140 hectares, said he and other growers in the region are dealing with fermentation in coffee left on the ground, which is dragging down beverage quality. He also expects a larger share of this year’s crop to be classified as riado or rio. Sérgio Meirelles Filho, president of the Coffee Industry Union of Minas Gerais (Sindicafé-MG), said the drop in coffee quality—especially in southern Minas Gerais—is more worrying than the harvest delays themselves, since the first coffee picked each season is normally the highest-quality batch. “This year, the first coffee coming in is already grading as hard riado. It’s fermented from the rain, and the resulting beverage quality is poor. Seeing poor quality right at the start of the harvest is alarming,” Meirelles said. He added that the wetter conditions have left many producers reporting mold and rot in coffee that fell during the rains and wasn’t collected in time—beans that are now unfit for consumption. Meirelles himself grows coffee on 30 hectares in São Gonçalo do Sapucaí, in southern Minas Gerais, and 175 hectares in Aricanduva, in the Jequitinhonha Valley. He’s harvested 20% of his crop in the south of the state and 30% in the north, and expects total output of between 7,000 and 8,000 bags.
