Argentine Wheat Crop Hit By Dry Weather
Reuters – 09/05/2019
Arid conditions in much of Argentina have delayed the development of the country’s 2019/20 wheat campaign, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday, and could harm the quality of the crop if the dryness persists. Argentina is a leading global grains exporter and the world’s No. 6 wheat exporter. On Wednesday, the country’s agriculture ministry said Argentina’s wheat crop was projected to come in at 21 million tonnes, with planting complete on 6.6 million hectares(16.3 million acres) of land. “If the lack of water availability is not reversed, as crops begin to demand more water and temperatures rise, the loss of growing conditions could accelerate in the coming weeks,” the grains exchange warned in its weekly crop report.
China Lodges a Tariff Case Against the US at the WTO
CNBC – 09/02/2019
China has lodged a complaint against the United States at the World Trade Organization over U.S. import duties, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Monday. The United States began imposing 15% tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods on Sunday and China began imposing new duties on U.S. crude oil, the latest escalation in their trade war. China did not release details of its legal case but said the U.S. tariffs affected $300 billion of Chinese exports. The latest tariff actions violated the consensus reached by leaders of China and the United States in a meeting in Osaka, the Commerce Ministry said in the statement. China will defend its legal rights in accordance with WTO rules, it said. The lawsuit is the third Beijing has brought to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump’s China-specific tariffs at the WTO, the international organization that limits the tariffs each country is allowed to charge.
K-State Releases Three New Wheat Varieties
Kansas Wheat– 09/05/2019
The Kansas State University recently released three new wheat varieties, which are available to Certified seed growers this fall and will be available to farmers in fall 2020.
The new releases include two hard red winter wheat varieties – KS Western Star and KS Dallas – and one hard white wheat, KS Silverado. They were all developed at the K-State Agricultural Research Center in Hays, Kan. The wheat breeding program at Kansas State University, with locations in Manhattan and Hays, receives funding from the Kansas Wheat Commission through the two-cent wheat checkoff. Thanks to wheat breeding programs like the one at K-State, producers have ever-improving options of wheat varieties to plant. Whether it’s improved resistance or increased yields, wheat breeders are creating varieties that meet producers’ changing needs.
US Spring Wheat Harvest Lags Year-Ago Pace, Crop Ratings Decline Further
S&P Global – 09/04/2019
The US spring wheat harvest for the 2019-20 (June-May) crop picked up pace in the latest week to reach 55%, but still trails sharply behind the same period of 2018, led by slower harvests in North Dakota and Minnesota, latest US Department of Agriculture data showed. The estimate for harvest progress during the week ended September 1 was below both market expectations of 57% and the five-year average of 78%. The spring wheat harvest in Minnesota is continuing at a slower-than-usual pace, reaching 65% in the week to September 1, down from 97% in the same period a year earlier, according to the USDA’s Crop Progress Report released late Monday. In a separate report issued by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the agency said Minnesota’s spring wheat harvest was nine days behind the usual level. Minnesota is expected to account for the second-largest spring wheat crop in the US in 2019-20. The harvest in North Dakota at 52% was “well behind” last year’s level of 86%, NASS said.
Northern Plains Spring Wheat Growers Can’t Catch a Break
Baking Business – 09/05/2019
It seemed northern Plains spring wheat growers can’t catch a break. Combining was expected to remain slow going because of inclement weather. Much of the region received two inches or more of rain during Labor Day weekend leaving fields too wet to harvest at midweek. Combining resumed Thursday as drier weather took hold, but more rain and cooler temperatures were in forecasts for the weekend and early next week. During a normal harvest, spring wheat producers are able to take off about 30% of the crop in a week, but they haven’t had a window that wide this season, Jim Peterson, policy and marketing director, North Dakota Wheat Commission told Milling & Baking News. The harvest began late because of weather-delayed spring planting and slow crop maturation, and rain has interrupted combining relentlessly as the crop was turning ripe.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates