Although unfavorable weather conditions contributed to a drop in Russia’s grain harvest from a record setting 2017-18, it is still higher than the 10-year average.
The Russian Ministry of Agriculture is estimating a total grain harvest of 105 million tonnes for the current market year, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). That is down from the record 135.4-million-tonne harvest in 2017-18.
Along with unfavorable weather conditions during spring planting, dryness in major grain producing areas during vegetation and an uneven pace in harvesting decreased production and lowered yields, the USDA said.
Wheat yields are down by 12% to an average of 2.89 tonnes per hectare. Total wheat production for 2018-19 is estimated at 68.5 million tonnes.
As of Oct. 2, 23.4 million hectares of the wheat crop had been harvested, or 89.1% of wheat acreage planned for harvesting, the USDA said.
Corn production is estimated at 11.8 million tonnes, down from previous projections due to smaller acreage sown last spring and extreme dryness.
Barley production is estimated down from previous predictions to 16.8 million tonnes based on lower-than-expected production and yield in major producing regions, the USDA said.
Total Russian exports for 2018-19 are estimated at 41.4 million tonnes, including 33.4 million tonnes of wheat, 4.2 million tonnes of barley, 3.57 million tonnes of corn and 250,000 tonnes of other grains.
