FAO SEES 1% INCREASE IN GLOBAL WHEAT OUTPUT
Global wheat production in 2024 is forecast to increase by 1% over the previous year but will fall short of the record output reached in 2022, according to a report from FAO. The FAO pegs 2024 US wheat production at 51.5 million tonnes. Canada is projected to harvest 33 million tonnes in 2024 despite a 2% contraction in wheat plantings. Also contributing to the FAO’s projected global wheat output of 797 million tonnes are Russia, where a small increase is expected due to favorable weather conditions. China, where strong domestic demand and an increase in the minimum purchase price have supported expanded planted area is spurring an expected rise in production.
Pakistan, which is expected to increase production to 28.3 million tonnes in 2024. India had been expected to produce a near record crop this year, but recent rainfall and hailstorms in key production areas just before harvest have tempered expectations for the country’s wheat harvest despite increased plantings. With wheat planting having been disrupted by heavy rains in several of the European Union’s key wheat-producing countries, particularly France and Germany, output in the EU in 2024 is expected to fall slightly to 133 million tonnes.
(Link: WorldGrain)
ARGENTINA DOWNPOUR DRENCHES CROP FIELDS; FLASH FLOODS IN BUENOS AIRES
Intense rains in Argentina are beginning to leave the soil in key agricultural areas too wet, which could bring difficulties when the time comes to harvest the 2023/24 soybean crop, a climate specialist said on Tuesday, though the conditions could be good for the 2024/25 wheat crop. The heavy rains also caused flooding in parts of the city of Buenos Aires. Growers in the Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Rios provinces have seen between 140 mm and 150 mm of rains so far this month, above average. With high soil humidity and combines unable to trudge through the mud, soy plants could be affected by their pods opening and losing the beans inside, or the beans could begin to sprout or fungi could begin to grow. The Rosario grains exchange estimates the 2023/24 soybean harvest at 49.5 million metric tons.
(Link: SuccessfulFarming)
