Russian Grain Market: 15-20 August 2013 Harvesting Updates Grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 17.7 million hectares (3.4 million hectares less than as of the same date in 2012) as of 15 August. The volume of the grain produced was 49.5 MMT (3.7 MMT more than in 2012) with the average yield of 2.65 MT/hectare (2.03 MT/hectare in 2012). Specifically, wheat was harvested on 11.5 million hectares (34.7 MMT produced with the average yield of 3.01 MT/hectare), and barley was harvested on 3.8 million hectares (8.4 MMT produced, the average yield of 2.23 MT/hectare). Winter Crops Planting Begins According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, some regions of the Volga and Central Federal Districts continued planting winter crops...
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On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...