Global weather is stabilising in key production areas following a period of extreme conditions in some regions, according to a World Grain report.
Following a period between 2020-2024 when weather had influenced global commodity trading and impacted agriculture in South America, parts of Asia, Europe and particularly North America, conditions were improving in those regions, the 25 April report said.
Drought that had looked likely to impact parts of southern Russia, Ukraine, western Kazakhstan and parts of Turkey at the end of last year had been eased by recent rainfall and mild temperatures, World Grain wrote.
After multiple years of drought and delayed seasonal rains, weather conditions in South America also seemed to have improved, the report said.
There had also been concern over the outlook for soyabeans and corn, with Argentina starting its spring season quite dry and Brazil’s early season rainfall delayed last September and October, World Grain wrote.
However, seasonal rains in late October which remained consistent from November-January in Brazil, had ensured a good soyabean production year, the report said.
After a return to more normal weather after a dry start, early-season corn and sunflowerseed in Argentina were impacted by dryness and yields were down, but timely rainfall had helped boost the soyabean crop and the bulk of corn planted in November and December, the report said.
Drought had affected North America for the first half of this decade, resulting in a drop in production for both Canada and Mexico.
Although many of the key US crop areas had not been impacted by drought seen in western parts of the continent, in 2024 dryness impacted much of the US crop region, sparking concern over a more severe drought in key production areas this spring and summer.
At the time of the report, Southern Australia’s wheat, barley and canola planting season was due to begin and weather prospects were looking good for a favourable planting season, the report said.
