Weather in Ukraine not conducive to harvest of late crops, development of winter crops - GrainTrade

MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - The weather in Ukraine has not been conducive to a good harvest this season, precipitation has been very uneven, low temperatures have delayed the development of crops and lengthy autumn rains have prevented the harvesting of late crops and the sowing of winter crops, Ukrainian media said, quoting the website of GrainTade, an online Ukrainian grain exchange.

"In the phase development of winter crops, the lag behind the average long-term indicators is three or four weeks, so the fate of the winter crop harvest in 2023 will depend on weather conditions. Only 30% of the area was sown with winter wheat by the optimal deadline of September 25," GrainTrade said, quoting the Institute of Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The abundant precipitation in the form of rain and snow with temperatures of -5 to +5 degrees forecasted for the next seven to 10 days will stop the development of crops and harvesting of corn, which has been threshed on only 50% of the area," it said.

The Agricultural Policy Ministry said 4.4 million hectares or 92% of the planned areas had been sown with winter crops in Ukraine, including wheat - 3.7 million hectares or 93%, barley - 600,000 hectares or 89% and rapeseed - 1 million hectares or 104%.

The United States Department of Agriculture has maintained its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine in the 2022/2023 marketing year from July 2022 to June 2023 at 15.5 million tonnes and for overall corn harvest at 31.5 million tonnes in its November report. The USDA also maintained its outlook for the food-grade wheat harvest in Ukraine in the 2022/2023 MY at 20.5 million tonnes, and its exports at 11 million tonnes.