Brazil Farm Auctions Jump 30% to 14,219 as Bad Rural Loans Hit 19.6%
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 15
Brazil Farm Auctions Jump 30% to 14,219 as Bad Rural Loans Hit 19.6%
2 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 15
Summary
14,219 rural properties were put up for auction in Brazil in 2025, up 30% from a year earlier, as lenders stepped up seizures of farmland pledged against souring farm loans.
171.2 billion reais ($33 billion) in problematic rural credit had accumulated by early 2026, with distressed debt swelling to 19.6% of outstanding farm loans from 5.5% two years earlier.
15% benchmark interest rates, weaker soy and grain prices, higher input costs and erratic weather have squeezed farmers, while out-of-court property auctions nearly doubled to 2,398 last year and farm bankruptcies rose 56% in 2025.
Rio Grande do Sul, hit by catastrophic 2024 flooding, illustrates the pressure, and farmers are now bracing for a possible super El Nino and fertilizer cost spikes linked to the Iran war that could deepen the crisis.