Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 10:02 | Categorized as weather
26/05/11 -- World agri-weather highlights from the excellent
Martell Crop Projections:
- Canadian prairies very cool; spring crops germinating slowly; night temps fell to 30s-40s F this week; cold air heading into Northern Great Plains in United States; spring wheat states North Dakota and Montana wet and cool; the worst of both worlds; spring planting delays very serious northern United States; US Midwest wetness growing worse every day; conditions are most wet in western corn belt from repeated rains this week; heavy rainfall spreading into eastern Midwest today - Thursday; planting struggles persist corn and soybeans
- Brazil weather very dry in May; Mato Grosso received no rainfall, gets 2-3 inches normally in May; safrinha (second-crop) corn deteriorating from heat, dryness; Parana state is bone dry in May; rain needed soon for wheat planting; forecast rains in South Brazil have not materialized; dry topsoil delaying winter wheat planting So Brazil
- Argentina drought eased by scattered showers yesterday Buenos Aires province; more needed; 90-day moisture deficit 5.3 inches (135 mm) eastern Buenos Aires; top winter wheat district Tres Arroyos extremely dry, 6.7 inch rainfall deficit and 29% of normal the past 90 days; La Nina drought influence still present
- Northern Europe much cooler this week; still suffering from drought; talk of severe yield reductions in UK wheat; crop conditions were too dry for too long; northern France drought has grown very severe; Paris rainfall less than 10% of normal the past 6 weeks; heat is another stressor; afternoon temperatures France frequently 8-10 F above normal; Germany and Poland showers last week eased drought stress a bit; more rain still needed; though topsoil moisture improved subsoil moisture still short in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
- Australia weather conditions cool and unstable, eastern growing areas; showers continued Tuesday northern New South Wales; soil moisture improving for winter wheat planting NSW, Victoria, South Australia with good rain past 2 weeks; unusually cold weather has developed; night lows 30s F southeast Australia; subsoil moisture badly depleted in Western Australia top wheat state; mid May showers were helpful, much more rain needed to jump-start wheat planting; shower chances increasing in 7-day forecast
- China Manchurian Plain conditions are warming; corn planting prospects brightening , projected temps rising to upper 70s- 80s F; Heilongjiang top soybean province still very wet; May rainfall way above normal keeping planting to a minimum; warmth very welcome, will heat up cold soils; farmer will plant between showers, forecast is stormy; biggest worry in China agriculture is drought in East; water supplies badly depleted, reservoirs running dry in rice, eastern rapeseed areas; China winter wheat harvest reportedly was slightly above 2010 production; wonder how this is possible with very low spring rainfall; drought grew severe in North China Plain top wheat provinces Henan and Shandong
- India high heat continues; over 100 F most areas; Pakistan also extremely hot, 105-108 F; a few India showers occurred this week, southwest, northeast growing areas; monsoon officially starts June, lasting through September; crop production last year was good with mostly above-normal monsoon rainfall; farmers hoping for another productive crop season in 2011; La Nina favours high rainfall in India
- Ukraine, Russia experiencing summer-like heat; highs over 80 F past several days; moisture stress is a growing worry; hit-or-miss showers helped a little, past couple of days; worst drought in central Ukraine with less than half of normal rainfall the past 9-10 weeks; winter crops rapeseed, wheat suffered with spring dryness; spring planting surging with springtime warmth and dryness; now rain is needed to germinate seeds; main crops are corn, soybeans, sunflower; drought worries increasing now in Russia Black Earth; same warmth, dryness as Ukraine; low rainfall the past 2-3 months; Russia spring grain planting surged ahead of normal pace with sunny warm weather; showers would be welcome to improve germination; welcome rain occurred yesterday in Russia Urals
26/05/11 -- World agri-weather highlights from the excellent Martell Crop Projections: