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Agriculture • Rains to skip US winter wheat ‘disaster zones’
Rains to skip US winter wheat ‘disaster zones’
Rains this week look likely to skip drought-hit areas of the US Plains which remain "disaster zones" for winter wheat, with 26% of the South Dakota crop lost to winterkill, contrasting with the healthy condition of Midwest seedlings.
Weather service MDA said that rain is due for southern Plains states such as Kansas, the top wheat producing state, providing further relief from drought which sent seedlings heading into dormancy in their worst condition since at least the 1990s.
However, MDA’s Don Keeley said that "dry weather will continue in the central Plains" states, such as Nebraska and South Dakota, where thanks to a lack of moisture winter wheat crops remain in historically weak condition.
‘Disaster zones’
The US Department of Agriculture overnight, in its first national crop progress report of 2013, showed just 2% of the South Dakota winter wheat crop rated in "good" or "excellent" condition – down from 52% a year ago.
US wheat rated good or excellent, change on week and (year on year)
Illinois: 68%, +3 points, (-10 points)
Kansas: 31%, +2 points, (-29 points)
Oklahoma: 27%, +1 point, (N/A)
Texas: 16%, -3 points, (-18 points)
Colorado: 12%, unchanged, (-28 points)
Nebraska: 10%, +4 points, (N/A)
South Dakota: 2%, unchanged, (-50 points)
Comparison with data for April 1 2012
In South Dakota, "26% of the winter wheat acreage was reported lost to winterkill," with cold weather holding up spring sowings too, USDA scouts said.
In Nebraska, 10% of the crop made the top two grades, with the Colorado figure at 12%.
"The central Plains states are disaster zones," Jonathan Watters at broker Benson Quinn Commodities said, terming the condition ratings "all record low" for a USDA opening crop progress briefing.
‘Slightly improved’
The comments contrasted with improvement in Kansas, where 31% of wheat was rated good or excellent, up two points on the previous week, and a reflection of easing drought.
The figure for Kansas, which like other southern Plains states grows hard red winter wheat varieties, was "far from ideal, but slightly improved from the winter and nowhere near record lows", Mr Watters said.
In neighbouring Oklahoma, the proportion of winter wheat rated good or excellent rose one point over the week to 27%, despite temperatures which fell as low as 13 degrees, raising fears for damage of crops which, in emerging from dormancy, lost some of their resistance to cold.
National picture
However, these figures fell well behind those noted for the Midwest, which grows the soft red winter wheat traded in Chicago, and the western white wheat states.
In Illinois, 68% of winter wheat was in good or excellent health, and in Washington state 72%.
The national figure came in at 34%, well behind the 58% a year before, and the worst start since 2002.
Then the winter crop started with a 31% good or excellent rating, and went on to record a 12.0% fall in yield to 38.2 bushels per acre, which remains the lowest reading of the last 16 years.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/rains-to- … -5680.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:30 am
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Agriculture • Rain’s return to force UK growers to ditch crop
Rain’s return to force UK growers to ditch crop
The return "with a vengeance" of wet weather may prompt many UK farmers to abandon their last standing wheat, besides rendering spring barley and oats harvests the slowest in recent memory, and piling on "misery" for potato growers.
While the harvest of the UK wheat crop is close to completion – after a dry spell at the start of the month allowed farmers to catch up on a rain-delayed start – rains over the weekend left growers facing "saturated soils, ponding in fields and some flooding", Adas said.
"There are still crops elsewhere on the higher land and in wet patches of fields that may prove impossible to harvest following the latest rain," the consultancy said.
In Scotland, where "there have been serious harvest difficulties caused by the wet conditions", further rain forecast for the coming week "will hamper the completion of the winter wheat harvest".
Abandoned barley
The poor conditions look set to ensure a historically poor UK harvest ends on a dismal note.
Adas restated a forecast of yields coming in "towards the lower end" of a range of 6.8-7.2 tonnes per hectare, implying the worst result in 20 years, with the specific weight, a key quality measure, dropping 70.7 kilogrammes per hectolitre, the lowest on records going back to 1977.
And the harvest slowdown was reflected in other cereals too, with the spring barley harvest slowing to a crawl, and becoming the latest in recent years.
"There are still crops dotted around the rest of England and Wales that have not been harvested due to poor ground conditions," Adas said.
"The latest rain and the harvest logistics mean that many of these patches may not be harvested."
For oats, harvesting stalled at 85% complete, compared with nearly all typically by now.
‘Perfect storm of misery’
The wet conditions have also slowed the potato harvest, which was 27% complete as of Monday, roughly half the usual rate, according to the British Potato Council.
The low figure reflects, besides recent rains, the knock-on effects of damp spring weather, which delayed sowings, and the wettest summer in a century, which slowed crop development and raised disease pressures.
Confirmed outbreaks of potato blight have more than doubled this year, the council said, warning that producers faced a "perfect storm of misery" given also that many farmers were on fixed contracts, meaning they would be unable to pass on higher costs.
"The combination of low yielding potato crops, increased crop spraying costs and increased wastage from problems such as greening, soft rots and growth cracks has massively increased the average cost of producing a tonne of potatoes," council chairman Allan Stevenson said.
Price dynamics
According to analysis group Andersons, farmers’ costs have soared from £140 a tonne to £190 a tonne.
Potatoes achieved an average price of £184.77 a tonne last week, with relatively low contract prices offsetting £252.77 a tonne for free-market crop.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/rains-ret … -5038.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:51 pm
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Agriculture • Rains put Canada crop condition under a cloud too
Rains put Canada crop condition under a cloud too
Canada joined the list of countries to suffer weather setbacks to crops as rains of up to four inches in a week set back condition ratings, besides preventing agrichemical applications and reseeding of lost crops.
Farm officials in the major growing province of Saskatchewan, which a week ago said that "the majority of crops that have emerged are in good-to-excellent condition" downgraded its assessment to most being "good to fair", with ratings reductions for most major crops.
The province’s canola crop was downgraded to 68% rated either good or excellent, down six points in a week, albeit to levels still above year-ago levels, when flooding kept huge swathes of farmland from even being seeded.
The spring wheat crop was seen as 76% in good or excellent health, a drop of 10 points on the week, with declines in ratings for barley and oats too.
‘Washed-out roads’
The downgrades reflected rains which dumped 100mm of rain in some southern areas last week, besides, in the US, causing flooding which disrupted loading at the Minnesota port of Duluth, prompting particular volatility in spring wheat prices on the Minneapolis exchange.
"Producers across the province continue to deal with very wet soil conditions," the Saskatchewan government said, adding that "excess moisture is delaying in-crop pest control applications for most producers in the province".
There had also been reports of hail damage to canola, of crops "yellowing from water stress", of "washed-out roads in some areas", and of flooding meaning that "any reseeding attempts have stopped".
‘Excess moisture stress’
The comments follow a report from farm officials in Manitoba earlier this week warning that "continuing wet and cool weather is starting to impact crop conditions.
"Crop types such as soybeans, edible beans, canola, peas, flax and corn are showing symptoms of excess moisture stress and slowed crop development," although the province’s cereals crops "appear to be handling the cool, wet conditions".
And they represent the latest in a string of cautions over adverse weather which have raised alarms, in particular, over Black Sea wheat and US corn crops, underpinning prices.
Rabobank on Friday outlined "compelling bullish scenarios" in agricultural commodities as it downgraded prospects for crops including US soybeans, Australian wheat and Chinese corn.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/rains-put … -4672.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:16 am
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Agriculture • Re: Heavy rains flood out Aussie farms for second year
Flooded Aussie cotton farms brace for more rain
Cotton growers in Australia are bracing for further rain, potentially extending the flooding which may damage up to 10% of the national crop of the fibre, besides sugar cane, soybeans and sorghum.
Eastern Australia which is in some areas suffering worse flooding than in the inundations which followed storms including Cyclone Yasi a year ago, is expected to receive another 25mm-50mm of rain later this week, Australia & New Zealand Bank said.
The rains threaten to extend the period of inundation which is a key factor in determining damage.
"The speed at which the water subsides and how quickly soils stay waterlogged will be key in determining any impact on yields," ANZ analyst Paul Deane said.
‘Extensive damage’
The New South Wales government estimated on Monday that 570,000 hectares of land is flooded in north central and north western areas, with "widespread" inundation causing "extensive damage to agriculture industries, including sugar cane and soybean crops" on the north coast.
However, for cotton, concerns have centred on area around Moree, at the centre of the important Gwydir Valley cotton growing region, suffering its worst floods in 35 years, after rains upstream described as dumping in two days the normal rainfall of two months.
The area’s nine gins produced more than 700,000 bales of cotton last season – well over 15% of national output.
Crop trader Olam International has warned that 10% of Australia’s crop could be damaged by the floods.
Price reaction
On cotton markets "prices are finding support amid fears of shortfalls in Australia brought about by heavy rainfall and flooding, since this could dash hopes of a record harvest in this key cotton export country", Commerzbank analysts said.
But the rebound in New York cotton futures – also attributed to better hopes for demand fostered by a better outlook for the world economic recovery and to forecast of a 10% cut in China’s cotton sowings – fizzled out in late deals.
New York’s March contract stood 0.03 cents higher at 96.37 cents a pound at 18:15 GMT.
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/flooded-a … -4127.html
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:49 pm
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