USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility has provided the following weekly weather/crop highlights:
EUROPE: Showers Boost Southern Wheat Prospects
- Showers across Spain and Italy boost moisture for winter wheat planting but hamper corn harvesting.
- Dry, mild weather in England, France, and Germany benefits wheat, barley, and rapeseed.
- Soil moisture continues to decline in eastern Europe under a persistent dry weather pattern.NORTHWESTERN AFRICA: Dry Weather Is Followed By More Showers
- A period of dry weather promotes winter crop planting. However, showers return to western portions of the region, maintaining excellent soil moisture for wheat and barley.MIDDLE EAST: Rain And Snow Maintain Favorable Early Wheat Prospects
- Rain and snow from the eastern Mediterranean into Iran maintain favorable early season prospects for winter wheat and barley.
- Drier weather in southern Turkey promotes late cotton harvesting.FSU: Cold Weather Threatens Southern Wheat
- Early week bitter cold surges into southern Russia, threatening recently emerged winter wheat.
- Cold weather expands over much of the region, ushering winter crops into dormancy.
- Additional showers slow cotton harvesting in Kirgizia and southern Kazakhstan.SOUTH ASIA: Seasonably Warm, Dry Weather
- Seasonably warm, sunny weather favors opening cotton bolls in southern India as well as vegetative winter wheat and rapeseed development in northern India.EAST ASIA: Showers Increase Moisture Reserves For Winter Crops
- Passing showers provide favorable moisture for vegetative winter wheat and rapeseed in China.SOUTHEAST ASIA: Beneficial Rains In Java, Indonesia
- Increasing showers in Java, Indonesia boost moisture supplies for rice transplanting.
- Drier weather eases flooding for rice in the eastern Philippines, although unseasonably heavy rains slow rice and corn harvesting in the western Philippines.AUSTRALIA: Harvesting Slowly Gains Momentum In The West
- Much-needed, drier weather in Western Australia helps dry waterlogged winter grains and oilseeds.
- In southeastern Australia, soaking rains interrupt winter crop harvesting before drier weather returns.
- Hot, dry weather in east-central Australia aids wheat harvesting and early summer crop development.SOUTH AMERICA: Heavy Rain Favors Argentine Crops; Drier In Brazil
- Widespread rain benefits winter grains and summer crops throughout much of Argentina.
- In Brazil, dry weather aids soybean planting but moisture is needed for coffee and sugarcane.SOUTH AFRICA: Corn Planting Progresses, But Rain Is Needed
- Unseasonable warmth and dryness overspread the corn belt, aiding fieldwork but limiting moisture for emerging summer crops.
