Shutterstock
Bad news for coffee lovers! The coffee industry is starting to worry as a lack of rain in Brazil threatens coffee bean crops. The drought affects the Minas Gerais region in Brazil, which produces almost three-quarters of all Brazilian coffee beans. Brazil itself is responsible for around thirty percent of all coffee beans used in the industry.
Along with the low rainfall, the high temperatures in the region are far over the average for the region this time of year. Those factors combined with this month being the end of the harvesting season has made the markets quite worried about potential shortages.
It looks as though the Minas Gerais region isn’t likely to get any rainfall throughout September. According to current forecasts, the region won’t be seeing any rainfall until at least mid-October, which is very late in the season to be harvesting coffee beans.
Rainfall is critical to the harvesting season. This is because around half an inch of rain is required to get the coffee plants to flower. Before this point, you can’t successfully harvest any coffee beans. While some commentators are worried about the situation, others are confident that rainfall in the next three or four weeks can still salvage the scenario.
AccuWeather meteorologist Jack Nicholls explained the problem as such: “It could be early to mid-October, which is a little late, before that area gets at least a half of an inch of rain needed to have the coffee beans start to flower. If it’s not raining by mid-October, it’s really a problem.”
Nicholls gave an optimistic evaluation of the situation on the AccuWeather website. “If the rains do arrive and it rains consistently in late September or early to mid-October,” Nicholls advised, “then you’ll still have a fine crop. Rainfall is the biggest key to the growing season in Brazil.”
Also, coffee lovers can rest assured that other regions, like Colombia, will produce ample beans for you to get your black coffee at Starbucks. In a worst-case scenario, coffee might simply become a bit more expensive on average.
