Rains put Canada crop condition under a cloud too

22nd Jun 2012, by Agrimoney
Canada joined the list of countries to suffer weather setbacks to crops as rains of up to four inches in a week set back condition ratings, besides preventing agrichemical applications and reseeding of lost crops.

Farm officials in the major growing province of Saskatchewan, which a week ago said that "the majority of crops that have emerged are in good-to-excellent condition" downgraded its assessment to most being "good to fair", with ratings reductions for most major crops.

The province's canola crop was downgraded to 68% rated either good or excellent, down six points in a week, albeit to levels still above year-ago levels, when flooding kept huge swathes of farmland from even being seeded.

The spring wheat crop was seen as 76% in good or excellent health, a drop of 10 points on the week, with declines in ratings for barley and oats too.

'Washed-out roads'

The downgrades reflected rains which dumped 100mm of rain in some southern areas last week, besides, in the US, causing flooding which disrupted loading at the Minnesota port of Duluth, prompting particular volatility in spring wheat prices on the Minneapolis exchange.

"Producers across the province continue to deal with very wet soil conditions," the Saskatchewan government said, adding that "excess moisture is delaying in-crop pest control applications for most producers in the province".

There had also been reports of hail damage to canola, of crops "yellowing from water stress", of "washed-out roads in some areas", and of flooding meaning that "any reseeding attempts have stopped".

'Excess moisture stress'

The comments follow a report from farm officials in Manitoba earlier this week warning that "continuing wet and cool weather is starting to impact crop conditions.

"Crop types such as soybeans, edible beans, canola, peas, flax and corn are showing symptoms of excess moisture stress and slowed crop development," although the province's cereals crops "appear to be handling the cool, wet conditions".

And they represent the latest in a string of cautions over adverse weather which have raised alarms, in particular, over Black Sea wheat and US corn crops, underpinning prices.

Rabobank on Friday outlined "compelling bullish scenarios" in agricultural commodities as it downgraded production prospects for crops including US soybeans, Australian wheat and Chinese corn.