A blanket of snow will continue to prevent farmers in the US Midwest from harvesting the corn crop, while the weather this week is expected to be favourable for wheat in the Plains, a forecaster said on Monday.
"Corn harvest progress will remain slow in the Midwest with significant snow cover in much of the west, episodes of mixed precipitation in the east and the chance of a significant snow event in some locations late in the week," said Mike Palmerino, a weather forecaster at DTN Meteorlogix.
The US Midwest, where farmers have yet to finish harvesting this year's near-record corn crop, was battered by a blizzard last week. The US Agriculture Department reported last week 12 percent of the corn crop still remained in the ground in a delayed harvest season. That represents about 1-1/2 billion bushels, which is nearly the amount estimated for the ending supply next year. But the weather in the US Plains is likely to help wheat with no forecast of damaging cold.
"Favourable conditions for dormant winter wheat with no damaging cold indicated," the forecaster said in a report. "Mostly favourable conditions in the feedlots with some snow later in the week expected to stay to the north of the major feedlots in the south-west." In South America, the weather conditions were largely favourable for developing corn and soybean crops, Palmerino said.
"Favourable temperature and rainfall patterns for developing soybeans will continue throughout the major growing areas (of Brazil) during the next 7 days," he said. For Argentina, he said: "Generally favourable conditions for planting and developing corn and soybeans with no heat stress and an increasing rainfall pattern developing this week."