Russian Wheat Forecasts Hit By June Heat, Rain Expected
Reuters – 07/01/2019
Estimates of Russia’s wheat crop and exports were cut on Monday as analysts and a weather forecaster gave their latest assessment on the negative impact of June’s dry, hot weather. Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter which ships its grain to Africa, the Middle East and Asia, started harvesting the 2019 grain crop in June when there was a heat wave in several regions. The condition of plantings is better than around the same date a year ago but not by much due to hot and dry weather on June 1-25, Anna Strashnaya, a senior researcher at the Hydrometcentre weather forecasting service, told Reuters. “We thought that (the grain harvest) would be much better (than a year ago), but it did not work out,” she said. “I think the situation will even out now: not very hot weather and … rains are expected to arrive.” Strashnaya did not disclose her current or previous estimate of the 2019 grain crop but said that the winter wheat crop was expected to be higher than in 2018 with the spring wheat harvest relatively flat.
The United States is Threatening New Tariffs on EU Goods Worth $4 Billion
CNN – 07/02/2019
The United States is intensifying its trade fight with the European Union over aircraft subsidies, proposing new tariffs on EU goods worth $4 billion. The tariffs, announced late Monday by the United States Trade Representative, cover 89 products including meat, cheese, pasta, fruits, coffee and whiskey. They could be added to a list of EU exports worth $21 billion that the USTR said in April would be subject to tariffs. The threat to target more European goods comes just days after the United States and China agreed to resume talks on a trade deal. President Donald Trump said he would hold off imposing new tariffs on China…The tariffs proposed by the Trump administration are subject to public consultation in the United States and arbitration at the WTO, which is expected to deliver its findings this summer. It’s the latest in a series of trade clashes between the United States and the European Union. The Trump administration has already imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum, to which EU authorities responded with tariffs on US goods worth more than $3 billion.
Oklahoma Wheat Commission Calling States 2019 Wheat Harvest 85 Percent Complete
Oklahoma Farm Report– 07/01/2019
Oklahoma Wheat harvest has continue to make great progress the past week with producers moving full speed ahead in Northern regions of the state along the Oklahoma/Kansas state line. Harvest has been completed in most all areas of Southwest Oklahoma, and in the Central regions. Even in the lower lying areas near Chickasha and El Reno, producers have made great strides. Harvest has progressed slower in Northeast Oklahoma with the continued moisture over the past few weeks, but as of today wheat harvest is being called half way finished around the Afton and Miami areas. Moving to the opposite end of the state in the far Northwest region of the Panhandle toward Boise City, harvest is reported halfway completed. If producers can get the next 3 to 4 days in the field without moisture, the 2019 Oklahoma wheat harvest should be mostly complete. The quality of the crop as well as yields continue to surprise farmers given all the moisture it has received during this harvest season.
US Winter Wheat Harvest Reaches 30% in the Latest Week, Spring Wheat Ratings Unchanged
S&P Global – 07/02/2019
US winter wheat harvest for the 2019-20 crop (June-May) reached 30% in the week ended June 30, down 20 percentage points from the same period a year earlier, latest data from the US Department of Agriculture showed. Kansas, the largest winter wheat-producing state, struggled with heavy rains and flooding in May and early June, a period crucial for wheat harvesting conditions, according to weather analysts. As a result, the pace of winter wheat harvest in the state was off to a very slow start. Harvesting in the state began June 20. In the latest week, Kansas winter wheat harvest reached 28%, down from 68% in the past year and below the five-year average of 61%, according to the USDA data released Monday. However, winter wheat harvest in the state has now picked up in the last five or six days following suitable dry conditions, according to the harvest report released by the Kansas Wheat Commission. A total of 63% of winter wheat crop in the US was rated in good and excellent conditions, improving 2 percentage points from the past week, USDA said. Analysts estimate for winter wheat conditions were in the range of 60%-63%.
Moving Grain is a Major Market for U.S. and Canadian Railroads
Freight Waves – 07/01/2019
Each grain is grown in different clusters of states. Corn is grown in many states, but just five states – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska – account for nearly two-thirds of U.S. corn production. The top five U.S. wheat producing states are Kansas, North Dakota, Washington, Montana and Oklahoma. Soybean production is centered in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota…However, when examining export movements of all U.S. grains, the railroad share jumps to between 33 percent and 40 percent. Trucking’s share of exports is often less than 20 percent. Barges move about 50 percent of exported grains. These modal shares vary significantly depending upon where in the country the shipments are moving and whether for the domestic or export markets. Rail’s economic advantage comes in large part from each railroad car’s capacity of up to 100 tons. That’s the equivalent of three to four truckloads. The newer 5,400-cubic foot covered hopper railroad grain cars can hold and then move the equivalent of about 115 or more acres of harvested grains per car. Linked together, a 100-railcar length train can move between 9,000 to 10,000 tons of grain. That’s the equivalent of more than 11,000 harvested acres.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates