USDA's Joint Ag Weather Facility has provided the following weekly weather/crop highlights:

• EUROPE: Widespread Showers Continue To Boost Crop Prospects
  - Widespread showers continue to boost prospects for small grains and oilseeds. However, generally dry weather in Spain promotes winter grain maturation and harvesting.

• NORTHWESTERN AFRICA: Sunny Skies Favor Wheat Maturation
  - Mostly sunny skies accelerate winter grain maturation and harvesting.

• MIDDLE EAST: Additional Rain Benefits Turkish Grains
  - Locally heavy showers and thunderstorms favor winter wheat and barley in Turkey.
  - Warm, dry weather promotes winter crop maturation and harvesting across the eastern Mediterranean.

• FSU: Soil Moisture Declining In The South
  - Unseasonably warm, dry weather reduces soil moisture for vegetative to heading winter grains and oilseeds in southern portions of Ukraine and Russia’s Southern District.
  - Showers favor vegetative small grains from Belarus into central and northern Russia.
  - Field preparation and early spring wheat planting is proceeding with minimal delay in Kazakhstan and eastern Russia. The sunny weather also promotes cotton planting in the south.

• SOUTH ASIA: Hot And Dry For Cotton
  - Hot, dry weather stresses vegetative cotton in northern India.

• EAST ASIA: Warmer Weather Favors Planting In Northeastern China
  - Warmer weather spurs corn, soybean, and rice planting in northeastern China.
  - Widespread monsoon showers maintain abundant moisture supplies for corn and rice in southern China.

• SOUTHEAST ASIA: Monsoon Rains Spur Rice Transplanting
  - Monsoon showers continue to encourage transplanting of rice in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

• AUSTRALIA: Favorable In The West And Parts Of The East
  - Dry weather favors uninterrupted summer crop harvesting and winter wheat planting in east-central Australia, but discourages widespread winter crop sowing in southeastern Australia.
  - In Western Australia, rain maintains good early-season crop prospects for winter grains and oilseeds.

• SOUTH AMERICA: Warm Weather Promotes Late Crop Development
  - Unseasonable warmth fosters rapid maturation of Argentine soybeans and corn, though locally heavy showers slow harvesting in and around Buenos Aires.
  - In Brazil, warm weather promotes rapid development of secondary (safrinha) corn, with showers boosting moisture in key southern production areas late in the week.

• MEXICO: Seasonal Showers Return To The Gulf Coast
  - Showers benefit rain-fed corn and sugarcane, although additional moisture is needed in Mexico’s western production areas.

• CANADA: Spring Crop Planting Advances
  - Drier conditions aid spring grain and oilseed planting on the southern Prairies, but freezing weather limits early growth.

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