USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility has provided the following weekly weather/crop highlights:
EUROPE: Showers Provide Limited Drought Relief In Spain
- Showers in Spain briefly stabilize winter crop prospects, but do little to ease drought concerns.
- Dry, mild conditions ease winter crops out of dormancy in Poland and the Balkans.NORTHWESTERN AFRICA: Showers In Morocco, But More Needed
- Much-needed showers in Morocco provide some soil moisture for reproductive winter crops, although rain is too light to alleviate concerns over developing drought.
- Sunny skies promote winter grain growth in eastern Algeria and Tunisia, where rain has been plentiful.MIDDLE EAST: Sunny Skies Return
- Sunny skies return, favoring heading winter grains across southern portions of the region.
- Below-normal temperatures keep winter crops dormant in Turkey and northern Iran.FSU: Mild In Ukraine; Cold And Snowy In Russia
- Mild weather in Ukraine and Belarus promotes fieldwork and encourages some winter crop greening.
- Cold, snowy weather in Russia keeps winter crops dormant under a moderate to deep snowpack.SOUTH ASIA: Heat Continues To Build In India
- Seasonably hot weather continues to overspread much of India, as winter crop harvesting progresses.EAST ASIA: Rain For Greening Winter Wheat
- Rain provides beneficial moisture for greening winter wheat on the North China Plain.SOUTHEAST ASIA: Wet Weather In Java, Indonesia
- Rainfall returns to Java, Indonesia, where drier weather would be welcome for rice harvesting.AUSTRALIA: Too Wet In Queensland; Beneficial Dryness In New South Wales
- In Queensland, widespread showers hamper dry down of cotton and sorghum and delay local fieldwork.
- Mostly dry weather in northern New South Wales favors summer crop maturation and harvesting.SOUTH AMERICA: Pockets Of Dryness Persist In Southern Brazil
- Warm, dry weather maintains unfavorable prospects for late-developing summer crops and secondary (safrinha) corn in sections of southern Brazil.
- Locally heavy showers continue throughout Argentina, providing additional moisture for immature corn and soybeans but hampering seasonal fieldwork.SOUTH AFRICA: Unseasonable Warmth And Dryness Dominate The Corn Belt
- Unseasonable warmth and dryness intensifies, hastening the maturation of corn and other summer crops.
