Sao Paulo, Aug 13 - Brazil's coffee zones have continued dry this week and should remain so in the coming days, private weather forecaster Somar said on Thursday, helping farmers dry harvested coffee without risk of damp.
Rains in the usually-dry months of June and July have blotted what had been shaping up as a textbook season this year with expectations of good-sized production resulting from months of good weather.
The rain soaked a lot of coffee drying outdoors on farm yards, resulting in fermentation and discoloration of beans and infusing them with an astringent taste. Affected beans will be sold as cheaper rio or riado, not as the more valuable fine cup grade.
Another cold front expected in a week to 10 days could bring more rain to the coffee areas, Somar said, but the location and quantity of rainfall would become clearer as the time approaches.
Only a millimeter or two of rain will fall in the coming days, mainly in Espirito Santo where the mostly robusta production is harvested earlier than arabica grown in other states.
"A dry air mass is favoring sunny weather and (a) wide range of temperatures throughout the day, with cold mornings and hot weather in the afternoon," Somar said in a daily coffee weather bulletin.
Minimum temperatures were still warm enough in all areas to rule out any chance of a crop-damaging frost.
The 2009/10 coffee harvest now being gathered has been estimated at 39 million to 43.5 million bags according to government and private estimates. Coffee damaged by the recent rain will need to be blended with unaffected beans to be marketable but it is still fit for consumption, buyers say.
Farm manager Joao Batista in the main coffee state Minas Gerais has an office wall covered in prize certificates for his produce, but he is glum about the prospects for this season, fearing the rains have damaged most of his coffee.
"This year will be a bad year for (taste quality)," he said. Despite now harvesting in "great" weather conditions, he said the rain had also damaged dry-processed coffee that was still on the trees when the rains fell.
Unlike coffees processed by washed and semi-washed methods, "dry" coffee remains on the branch until the outer pulpy husk dries and hardens around the bean. This coffee spoils when rain water gets below the husk.