by PressWhat are the prospects of spring wheat harvest for Canada, the U.S. and Russia
Prospects for spring wheat harvest do not make the leading producers happy
This year the weather has not been favorable to spring wheat producers in the USA. As a result, they are expecting disappointing prospects for the harvest, it will reach the lowest values for the last 33 years. Canada and Russia, which together with the United States are considered the world’s largest producers of this type of grain, were also affected by the drought.
This situation could negatively affect world stocks of spring wheat, which is a high-protein crop.
Canada suffers from extremely high temperatures, which negatively affects the quality of the crop. As for the U.S., the drought there was most pronounced in the western regions that produce wheat. Russia also experienced prolonged heat, which prevents seedlings from developing fully.
Hard red spring wheat has the highest concentration of protein among the other species, but the prolonged dry period can affect the level of this useful component.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report analyzing the global grain market. The document notes that Canadian farmers this season decided to switch from spring wheat to other crops, significantly reducing the area under crops. And previously Canada was a leader in the production of spring wheat, and how the reduction in acreage will affect the global market, is still unknown. The record drought that was observed in the country has also aggravated this fact, so the wheat harvest is expected to be much lower than it was last year. Analysts forecast 11% reduction to 25.6 million tons.
The U.S. crop is also forecast to be disappointing, at 305 million bushels or 8.3 million tons, its lowest level in 33 years. By comparison, U.S. farmers harvested 530 million bushels of wheat last season.
As for Russia, the production prospects here are not encouraging either. In the Central District and the Volga region there was a lack of precipitation, and these regions traditionally grow wheat. The volume of crop production in the country is expected to be about 84 million tons, of which 20.6 million tons will be spring wheat.
The reduction of crops from major grain exporters will also affect the state of the world market. We should expect to see a decrease in wheat stocks and an increase in wheat prices. For example, export of crops from Canada will fall by 16% to 17.7 million tons. In the US, it is expected to reduce supplies by 23%; the country is planning to sell 220 million bushels on the world market. This situation will force many importers to increase supplies from Australia.