Climatic Factors Affect Coffee Growing In Brazil

Brazil, Minas Gerais

Open plains, blue sky, and white clouds, endless coffee trees, this is the Brazilian coffee plantation. It is the most productive place for coffee in the world and the largest producing area in Brazil. In addition to the amazing vast coffee plantations, Brazil has many amazing and interesting details. This article will introduce how some small producers overcome the impact of climate factors to grow and produce coffee.

Minas is the center of coffee cultivation and production in Brazil and the region with the largest coffee production in the world. The annual output is as high as 25 million to 30 million bales (60 kg/bag). Its output alone is greater than the national output of many coffee-producing countries (such as Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia).

There are so many coffee producers, with such a large output and area, it is difficult to generalize about its coffee production. Still, there is indeed one factor that can affect the entire Minas, and that is climatic conditions, especially with recent climate changes, for coffee production. The impact is getting worse.

Changing Market

Demilson Batista Jr. is the founder of Legender Specialty Coffee, a new coffee company that sells Brazilian coffee to the wider international market. “I went to different coffee farms with Batista and cupped the coffee. It was a lot of fun, and I got to try some Brazilian coffees that have never been on the international market.”

To understand the current state of the area, it is first necessary to understand the local history. The coffee industry has always been an important local industry, and the domestic coffee market in Brazil is highly developed. Through various channels, coffee is brought together here. The system has been in place for so many years that people are comfortable with the status quo and are not used to the new changes.

For example, coffee producers in and around Machado have been growing specialty-grade coffee, but the coffee here has rarely entered the international specialty coffee market. Usually, Brazilian coffee is purchased by some large-scale traders and shipped to big cities, and mixed with coffee from different regions.

This method can make a good coffee, but at the same time, it loses the characteristics of the producing area. Usually, the coffee here is marked with Brazil Santos. But in fact, Sandos is the name of a port city, and since most of the coffee is exported from here, it has been used.

Batista and his parents, Athos Caixeta and Herico Goncalves, have always wanted to pass on the local coffee culture and seek ways to export directly from Machado coffee. They buy natural-processed Arabica coffee from producers there, keeping the local character intact, and sell it directly to the specialty coffee market. For the first time, the world has truly felt the quality of coffee here.

The Rewards of Suffering

Coffee is a typical cyclical crop. Even if it is not affected by the climate, it basically has a good harvest in one year and a lack in one year. A bad harvest year must be followed by a good harvest year. The nutrients in the soil of the planting place are absorbed by the rhizomes of the coffee tree and then supply the fruit to grow and develop. As we all know, each fruit needs to absorb enough nutrients through the trunk. If a tree goes through a disaster and doesn't produce enough fruit, the nutrients it stores are the "food" for the next year's regrowth.

To learn more about Brazil's production, we drove to Araxa, a six-hour drive from Machado, to visit Warley Carlos de Oliverira, the coffee quality specialist at Fazenda Barinas.

The name Fazenda Barinas is of Venezuelan origin. Therefore, the estate is called "The Manor of the Wind". Barinas has a slightly higher terrain, and the unique wind is very conducive to the drying of coffee. Oliveria told us: "We never worry about the coffee drying too slowly, so we can control the drying process very precisely.

Fazenda Barinas uses the drying method used in other parts of Brazil, where they dry the beans in a folding/doubling fashion every once in a while:

• After the coffee is harvested, the floating unripe cherries are removed first.
• Spread the coffee flat on the drying yard (approximately 14-20 liters/m²). For the Barinas estate, space is not an issue, there is plenty of space, and no mechanical dryer is needed to aid in the treatment.
• After two days, spread another layer (about 40 liters/m2) on top of the dried coffee.
• Stack again two days later, this time at 80 litres/m². At this point, most of the water in the coffee has been lost, and only about 20% remains.
• producers need to keep turning the coffee throughout the day, eventually stacking it in piles and covering it with tarps. In this way, stable moisture is retained and balanced with the surrounding air humidity without being overly dehydrated.
• Lift off the tarp and roll it out again.

Through this process, the drying degree of all coffee beans is guaranteed to be the same. Oliveria told us that Barinas also suffered from a severe drought last year but still had a bumper harvest in 2016. As a cup test judge, Oliveria has traveled all over Brazil. He found that the quality of the coffee beans harvested this year has generally improved (the cup test score has increased by 1.5-2 points), and the yield has also been greatly improved.

Heat and exposure to the sun are problems for many coffee producers in Minas, as is the severe drought in the 14-15 season. But in addition, high temperatures and strong wind can make the coffee dry more evenly. Should you choose unique flavor and quality, like Machado, or approach, like Fazenda Barinas? These are all issues that producers and exporters need to consider.

For coffee producers, every year is a new challenge and adventure. Fortunately, despite all the hardships, the amount of high-quality coffee in Minas has continued to increase. Producers are aware of the impact of climate and other aspects on coffee production. We believe that in the future, Brazil, the "giant of Arabica coffee", will be stronger and stronger.