Brazil's farm lobby hit back at Banco do Brasil: 'why isn't the other 52% of the market in the same spot?'
Aprosoja, Faesp, Farsul and Famato reacted to the BB CEO's claim that some mid-size and large farmers refuse to pay. The fight is now over who got it wrong: the farmer or the bank's lending criteria.
To save you time4
- What did Banco do Brasil say?
- CEO Tarciana Medeiros said some delinquent mid-size and large farmers refused to pay, renegotiate or post new collateral. In a statement, the bank said 90% of its farm clients are current.
- How did farm groups respond?
- Aprosoja, Faesp, Farsul and Famato rejected the idea of deliberate default and blamed weather, costs, low prices and high interest rates.
- What is Farsul's main argument?
- BB has a 7% farm default rate, versus 1.9% at Sicredi, 2.1% at Sicoob and 2.5% at Banrisul, which would point to the bank's own lending criteria.
- What comes next?
- Presidential sign-off on MP 1,376/2026, approved by the Senate, which broadens farm debt renegotiation at 5% to 12% a year, according to Famato.
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If you followed Banco do Brasil's earnings, you know profit fell 66.5% in the third quarter on farm loan defaults. What changed since: the farm sector answered back, and hard.
CEO Tarciana Medeiros said some delinquent mid-size and large farmers refused to pay, renegotiate or post new collateral, even with restructuring programs on the table. CFO and IR head Geovanne Tobias went further: "a part of this agro sector really doesn't want to pay Banco do Brasil." The bank later issued a statement saying 90% of its farm clients are current.
The farm groups' answer
Aprosoja Brasil said the bank was turning "a serious economic crisis into a blanket accusation of bad faith against those who produce." It cites an average default rate of 1.89% between 2015 and 2019, and says traditional rural credit fell from R$ 144.9 billion to R$ 107.6 billion in the first four months of the 2026/27 season, down 25.7%.
The sharpest point came from Farsul. Its president, Domingos Velho Lopes, notes BB holds 47.7% of farm credit and asks: "Why isn't the other 52.3% of the market in the same situation?" He puts defaults at 1.9% at Sicredi, 2.1% at Sicoob, 2.5% at Banrisul and 7% at BB.
What matters here
Farsul's framing moves the problem from the farmer to the bank's lending standards. If you hold BBAS3, that's the question: is the stress about the farm cycle, or about BB's book?
Famato noted the remarks came the same day the Senate approved MP 1,376/2026, which broadens renegotiation at rates of 5% to 12% a year.
What I'd watch
The signing and regulation of the MP, and whether BB tightens lending further next season. A bank and its clients fighting in public rarely ends with more credit on the street.
