Prices paid to farmers fell by almost 10% in the first quarter.

Prices paid to agricultural producers fell in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year. According to calculations by Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics) at Esalq/USP, the IPPA/Cepea (Producer Price Index for Groups of Agricultural Products) fell by 9.79%. The decline in the Index was not more intense due to the appreciation of the price per arroba of beef, which, in the first quarter of 2026, registered an average higher than that recorded in the same period of 2025. The drop observed for the IPPA/Cepea was less than that recorded for international food prices (IMF Food & Beverage Index – in R$), which was 14.29% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the first three months of last year. During the same period, industrial prices (IPA-OG-DI industrial products) fell by 2.55%, and the Brazilian currency appreciated by 10.12% against the dollar (R$/US$). According to researchers at Cepea, this scenario, in which the decline in domestic prices was more moderate than that observed in the international market, highlights the relative resilience of domestic prices. Additionally, the currency appreciation contributes to reducing the costs of imported inputs, while the fall, albeit milder, in industrial prices favors the control of production costs. According to researchers at Cepea, the decline in the IPPA/Cepea in the first quarter of 2026 is associated with the observed decreases in the IPPA-Grains/Cepea (9.85%), the IPPA-Sugarcane-Coffee/Cepea (16.61%), the IPPA-Fruits and Vegetables/Cepea (14%), and the IPPA-Livestock/Cepea (5.73%). In the case of the IPPA-Grains/Cepea, the Index was influenced by the devaluations recorded for all grains when considering the prices of the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2025 – the drops are 14.59% for cotton, 39.83% for rice, 15.35% for corn, 4.15% for soybeans, and 18.24% for wheat. For the IPPA-Sugarcane-Coffee/Cepea index, the decline is due to drops in coffee and sugarcane prices. The IPPA-Fruits and Vegetables/Cepea index, in turn, was influenced by reductions in tomato (-4.3%) and orange (-55.8%) prices, while potato and banana prices rose by 5.1% and 23.1%, respectively. For the IPPA-Livestock/Cepea index, the drop was linked to movements in chicken (-10.68%), pork (-13.10%), milk (-22.97%), and eggs (-22.2%). Conversely, the price per arroba of beef increased by 5.9%. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.