Brazilian Coffee Farmer Bucks Trend, Prays for Sun

By Peter Blackburn

VARGINHA, Brazil (Reuters) - Unlike other coffee farmers, Hugo Swerts wants two more weeks of dry weather so he can finish harvesting on the Santa Cruz farm high up in the hills of Brazil's main production region of south Minas.

In contrast, growers on lower lying land in the world's No. 1 producer and exporter have already finished gathering a large harvest and are desperate for rain to revive tired trees and prompt the flowering of next year's crop.

"We don't want any rain now -- 30 percent of our crop is still on the trees," Swerts told Reuters, pointing to two huge terraces covered with coffee cherries drying in the sun on his remote farm in the key coffee growing area of Varginha.

Forecasts for rain this weekend sent benchmark arabica futures falling more than 5 percent earlier this week as expectations rose about the size of the 2005 Brazilian crop.

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