World Crop Weather Highlights

16/03/11 -- World agri-weather highlights from the excellent Martell Crop Projections:

  • Still more rain Monday Mid South, Gulf states; Indiana-Ohio wet today; March excessively wet Ohio-Indiana, 2-4 times the normal precip; warm temps coming to Midwest, begins Wed Iowa-Nebraska-Minnesota; 60 F possible Chicago Thursday; warmth needed to melt snow, still several inches deep Upper Midwest

  • Mato Grosso Brazil rainfall lightening up; soy harvesting picking up momentum; dry conditions persist Rio Grande do Sul, slight improvement with scattered rain recently; soybeans filling pods in March still need more rain; forecast dry but cooler South Brazil

  • Argentina grain belt still too dry; cool front brought scattered shwrs, helpful, still not enough; worst dryness Northeast Argentina, upper Cordoba, Santa Fe, Entre Rios; temperatures sharply cooler this week, 70s F; mid 90s F common last week; forecast dry

  • Europe wheat and rapeseed actively growing, afternoon temps 50s - low 60s F; drought very troubling France, southern Germany, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Hungary, Balkans; hardly any precipitation for 2 months; forecast is wet in southern Europe, active storm track in Mediterranean Sea

  • Wet summer in most of Australia; tropical storm precip way above normal north Australia; excellent subsoil moisture ahead of wheat planting, Victoria, southern New South Wales especially wet; Western Australia needs rain, dry for a month, also very hot

  • North China Plain wheat dry again; strong warming in March spurring wheat development; more rain needed; forecast not hopeful for significant rain; Northeast China trying to warm up; highs 30s F, night lows teens-low 20s F Jilin and Heilongjiang; below-avg temps expected next 7 days

  • Northwest India, Pakistan in midst of a heat wave; temperatures upper 80s-low 90s, very unfavorable for wheat now filling grain; winter rapeseed Madhya Pradesh hotter, highs mid 90s F; forecast calling for more of the same

  • Russia Volga wheat area expecting snow, upper 20s F for max temps; past 2 weeks very cold, 10-15 F below normal; feels like winter; Black Sea wheat area too dry, low rainfall past 30 days; showers keep going south affecting Turkey, Middle East; new 7 day outlook wetter; Ukraine warming up nicely; highs 40s to upper 50s F yesterday; spring has finally sprung; winter crops emerging from dormancy