Plains Dryness to Persist the Next Two Weeks

January 31st, 2018

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Category: Drought, Weather

(AgWeb) –  In the overnight session the grains are trading lower with corn down ¾ of a cent, soybeans down 5 cents, Chicago wheat down 4 ¾ of a cent and Kansas City wheat down 5 cents. Chicago wheat futures turned lower on Wednesday as a short-covering rally linked to concerns over poor winter crop conditions in the US ran out of steam.

US winter wheat is not in good shape according to new data from the US department of Agriculture. Although drawing final conclusions based on midwinter crop conditions is premature, the chance that the US harvest will achieve even average levels is dwindling, especially since weather models have not yet indicated a reliable shift to a widespread wet pattern in the Southern Plains.

Late on Monday, many of the USDA’s state statistics offices released monthly crop progress reports that include the condition of winter wheat. The status in top producers, Kansas and Oklahoma, was nothing short of alarming and implied that at least 30 percent of the national winter wheat crop is in the worst condition in well over a decade.

Argentina’s corn crop will suffer yield losses due to drought this year and the estimated planting area may drop further because dry weather in the northern part of the country has blocked late-season planting. Regarding the country’s main cash crop, soybeans, no more planting area losses are expected for the 2017/2018 season and the size of the harvest hinges on February rains, which will be crucial after three consecutive months of near constant sun.

 

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