The Results Of Ukraine/Russian Crop Tour Are In...
If you bothered to cough up the relatively small amount of money required to sponsor him that is.
Still, if you didn't it's still not too late, for a dirt cheap minimum contribution of GBP75, EUR100 or USD115 he'll send you a detailed copy of his findings via email and/or from a downloadable link.
It may not surprise you to hear that things don't tie up too closely with the official crop ratings from the various associated Ag Ministries in either country if you are prepared to put the miles in and actually get out there yourself.
The tour covered almost 5,000 km of the main winter crop areas of Ukraine and Russia and essentially looked at the condition of small grains and rapeseed.
There's also a precis of the vibe among various farm managers and industry personnel that they met along the way, regarding their take on crop conditions, the outlook for the rest of the season and how true the reports of lack of credit are.
A June tour is now being planned to see how these crops look then, and also to have a peek at spring sown corn and sunflowers.
You can email Mike at: agronomy.croptour@yahoo.co.uk
