SAO PAULO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Rains should spread and intensify in Brazil's soy belt later this week as farmers sow what is expected to be a record crop, local forecaster Somar said on Monday.
Light, irregular rainfall in mid September jump-started planting of what the U.S. Agriculture Department expects to be a record 81-million-tonne soybean crop that would put Brazil ahead of the United States in production of the oilseed.
Local forecaster Somar Meteorologia, which specializes in forecasting weather for Brazil's major crop regions, said a cold front that brought rain to the Brazil-Argentine border would move north into No. 2 producing state Parana starting Thursday.
"After a period of little or irregular rainfall, we are going to see a change in weather patterns and the return of rainfall to central Brazil," the report said.
