Europe, North Africa Set to Harvest Large Durum Crops
The Western Producer – 06/27/2019
The world’s biggest durum producer is set to harvest a good crop. The European Crop Monitor forecasts an average yield of 53.8 bushels per acre in the European Union, which would be 4.6 percent above the previous five-year average. Italy’s crop is looking particularly healthy due to a surplus of rain. Yields are projected to be 7.3 percent higher than average in the EU’s largest durum-producing country. There is also a good durum crop being harvested in two of the three big production regions of North Africa, according to the crop monitor. The average yield in Algeria is forecast at 29 bu. per acre, which is 18 percent above the previous five-year average. Tunisia is pegged at 31 bu. per acre, 16 percent above average. Morocco is the exception. Average yield in that country is estimated at 23 bu. per acre, which is 16 percent below average. Jim Peterson, policy and marketing director with the North Dakota Wheat Commission, said big crops in the EU and North Africa do not bode well for North American export prospects, but it isn’t the only demand factor.
US Wheat Net Export Sales Surge 226% on Week, Philippines Emerges as Largest Buyer
S&P Global – 06/28/2019
US wheat net export sales totaled 611,997 mt in the week ended June 20 — the third week of the 2019-20 marketing season (June-May) — surging 226% from the week before and up 8.6% from the same week a year earlier, latest data from the US Department of Agriculture showed. The latest weekly sales exceeded market expectations — analyst estimations had been in the range of 195,000-495,000 mt. Physical wheat exports — those which have been shipped from the US — totaled 418,496 mt in the latest week, according to the USDA report released Thursday. Year to date, US wheat exports have totaled 1.2 million mt, 12.4% higher than a year earlier. US wheat’s new marketing year began June 1…The Philippines booked the largest volume of US wheat in the latest week, buying 116,000 mt, followed by Guatemala at 88,300 mt and Japan at 81,500 mt, the USDA data showed. With its large booking, the Philippines soared ahead of Mexico to become the largest buyer of US wheat in the year-to-date marketing year.
No U.S.-EU Trade Deal Without Agriculture
Reuters – 06/27/2019
The United States will not reach a trade agreement with the European Union if agriculture is not included, a senior U.S. Agriculture Department official told reporters on Thursday. Ted McKinney, undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said he was highlighting common ground between the two sides during meetings with lawmakers, government officials and private industry in Brussels, Rome and Geneva. Europe, a top U.S. trading partner, has offered to start negotiations with the United States about removing import duties on industrial goods, but those talks have not begun in earnest as the two sides argue about the issue of market access for agriculture. Washington says it should be part of the talks, but the EU has not included agriculture in its mandate for the talks. The discussions are part of a deal struck last year between European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump, under which the United States agreed not to impose punitive tariffs on EU car imports while the two sides worked to improve transatlantic trade ties.
Kansas Wheat Harvest Report, Day 2
Kansas Wheat Commission – 06/27/2019
Wheat harvest finally started to get some momentum in Kansas on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Many farmers would already be done with their wheat harvest, but due to cool weather and rain delays, the state has experienced one of its latest starts. Mostly depending upon planting dates and amount of moisture, harvest has begun in some areas to the north even before their neighbors to the south have started. With combines beginning to roll, farmers are finding the silver lining in this year’s wheat harvest. Chris Boyd, a farmer in Medicine Lodge, just began harvesting wheat on June 27. Others in the area began as early as last Friday, but weekend showers brought them to a halt for a few days. Boyd says they are starting later than usual this year, typically finishing harvest around June 30. Boyd says his yields are really spotty in the fields and doesn’t have enough wheat cut yet to report yield averages.
U.S. Winter Wheat Harvest Gathering Momentum
World-Grain – 06/27/2019
The U.S. winter wheat harvest has been proceeding in fits and starts with progress well behind the average pace for the date in major states. The cool and excessively wet spring weather that prevailed across many key wheat regions slowed crop development and wheat maturation, and sodden fields stymied farmers’ efforts to begin combining even when wheat was ripe and skies were clear. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in its weekly Crop Progress report indicated the winter wheat harvest was 15% completed by June 23 compared with 8% a week earlier and 34% as the recent five-year average for the date. Drier weather patterns finally were taking hold in the Southwest, enabling the hard red winter wheat harvest to accelerate. The USDA in its weekly Crop Progress report indicated the Oklahoma harvest was 43% completed by June 23 compared with 16% a week earlier and 78% as the recent five-year average for the date. By the afternoon of June 26, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission estimated the state’s harvest at 58% completed. Joe Hampton of Oklahoma Grain and Feed indicated that by midweek, harvesting in Oklahoma was wrapping up south of I-40. Combining north of the interstate was approaching 60% completed while harvesting was just getting under way in the Oklahoma panhandle.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates