Canada Wheat Harvest Picks Up as Warm, Dry Weather Firms Fields

Canada’s grain harvest accelerated last week as warm, dry weather in the western prairies let farmers finish collecting grain, the Canadian Wheat Board said.

Harvesting is 99 percent done as temperatures rose to as much as 10 degrees Celsius above normal in the region and “only scattered showers” fell, the wheat-marketing organization said today in a report. Canada trails only the U.S. among the world’s wheat exporters.

In Australia, the world’s fourth-biggest shipper behind Russia, some areas in the eastern part of the country were affected by temperatures that were as much as 12 degrees above normal, the wheat board said.

As much as 50 millimeters (2.2 inches) of rain in New South Wales and Victoria delayed harvest work while lighter rainfall, between 10 millimeters and 25 millimeters, boosted crop prospects in Western Australia, according to the report.

Light rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures across Europe benefited crop growth in the past week, with rainfall mostly between 5 millimeters to 25 millimeters in northern Europe providing “fair to adequate” moisture for greening grain crops, the board said.

Adequate moisture and mild temperatures also favored the establishment of durum in southern Europe, the board said. Italy, France, Spain and Greece account for about 98 percent of European Union durum production.

Russia and Ukraine also benefited from rain adding to soil moisture, while warm temperatures encouraged the growth of winter crops, the wheat board said.

In Ukraine, “last week’s mild temperatures provided additional growth time to the crops before entering the dormancy,” the board said in the report.

By Tony C. Dreibus and Rudy Ruitenberg
Bloomberg