SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian soybean farmers are taking advantage of
higher international and local soybean prices and selling their beans, industry
sources said Monday.

  Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans are 12 cents higher at $9.64 a bushel on
Monday, while on Friday May soybeans jumped 11 1/2 cents to $9.52 a bushel.

  "This rise in local and international prices has encouraged farmers to sell
their beans, especially in Mato Grosso and Parana, after a few weeks of slow
trade," said Fernando Muraro, a soy analyst at consultancy AgRural.

  Muraro said that soybean prices have been are around 37 ($16) per 60-kilogram
bag in Sorriso, Mato Grosso, Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state.

  Muraro said that concerns about strike-related disruptions in Argentina are
helping to support prices.

  The leaders of Argentina's four top farm groups met Friday to consider
whether to launch a new strike over the tax. Farmers sporadically blocked a key
highway in Gualeguaychu, a flashpoint during four months of on-again, off-again
strikes and roadblocks last year.

  Steve Cachia, an analyst at Brazilian consultancy Cerealpar, said Mato
Grosso's large-scale soy farming operations have been particularly willing to
sell lately as they have higher costs than farmers in the south of Brazil.

  "They need to sell their new beans to cover costs," he said.

  Buyers in the local market were paying BRL49 per 60-kilogram bag at Paranagua
early on Monday. This is around BRL1 or BRL0.50 per bag higher than last week,
Cachia noted.

  Cachia said that buyers at the start of trading on Monday were looking for
around 48 cents over the May soybean futures contract on CBOT, while sellers
wanted 55 cents over the same contract at Paranagua, the main grain port.

  He said improved financial markets and outlooks as well as the Argentina
farmers strike is helping to push up soy prices. Producers are also waiting for
the U.S. Department of Agriculture prospective plantings report, scheduled for
release on March 31.

  In the south of Brazil, David Brew, a broker at Brasoja in Rio Grande do Sul,
the No. 3 soy-producing state, said that business is beginning to gather pace
ahead of Rio Grande do Sul's harvest.

  Brew said that Rio Grande do Sul starts its harvest later than other states.
Farmers are beginning to sell more beans and this will increase until the
harvest gets underway at the end of March and early April, he said.

  AgRural said that Brazilian soybeans farmers harvested 45% of their beans as
of March 20 compared to 35% a year ago. This was due to the favorable dry
weather, said Muraro.

  Mato Grosso harvested 84% of its beans as of March 20, while Parana, the No.
2 producer, has harvested 47% of its beans, according to AgRural.

  Brazil is the No. 2 producer of soybeans after the U.S.