Russia winter grain planted area down 8% for 2014/15 season

Date:11-21-2013

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the planted area of 2014/15 winter grains is lower than last year’s level in every major production district. Sown area was reported at 14.4 million hectares as of November 14, 2013, down 1.4 million from the same date last year and 2.0 million below the Ministry’s August forecast. Planting typically is essentially complete by mid-November. The year-to-year drop in sown area is attributed chiefly to untimely wet weather which impeded field work in the Central District and the lower Volga Valley.

Wheat is Russia’s main winter grain, comprising about 80 to 85 percent of Russia’s total winter-grain area. Winter wheat is grown throughout European Russia. Rye accounts for 11 to 16 percent of the area and is grown in the more northern territories due to its ability to withstand cold weather. Barley occupies 2 to 4 percent of the country’s winter-grain area. It is the least cold-tolerant of the winter grains and is grown only in southern Russia. Less than 2 percent of the winter-grain area is sown to triticale. Triticale is grown in the Central and Volga Districts.

Russia’s winter-grain sowing campaign begins in mid-August in the Volga Valley and advances southward. Planting concludes in the North Caucasus District in early November. This season, sowing began on time in the Volga District and proceeded at a rapid pace until early September, when persistent wet weather brought field work to an early end. Final sown area was reported by the Ministry of Agriculture at 4.14 million hectares, 0.24 million lower than last year and nearly 0.6 million short of the August forecast. In the Central District, wet conditions prevailed throughout September, the region’s typical planting window, and final sown area was slightly below 3.0 million hectares – nearly 20 percent below last year and 25 percent below the Ministry forecast. Planted area dropped in the Southern District as well, but planting difficulties were limited to Volgograd, which borders Volga District. Farther south, in the remainder of the Southern District and in the North Caucasus District, most of the winter grains were planted from late September through early November under favorable conditions.

Surface-moisture conditions, as indicated by microwave satellite imagery, were generally favorable for Russia’s winter crops throughout emergence and establishment in the Central and Volga Districts. Winter grains in these districts typically enter dormancy in late October or early November, but temperatures in most of the main winter-grain region (including Voronezh in the Central District, Saratov in the Volga District, and Krasnodar in the Southern District) have generally been above normal and crops are still in the tillering stage. Early-November surface moisture in the southern half of the Southern District and in the North Caucasus District were below normal, similar to last year, but moisture demands for developing winter grains are low and crops face no current threats.

Assuming that 2014/15 winter-grain planting is complete, the reported sown area of 14.4 million hectares would be the lowest since 2007/08 (i.e., the crop planted in the autumn of 2006). In a typical season, 5 to 10 percent of Russia’s fall-sown winter grains are destroyed due to fall drought, winter frost, or other weather-related factors. Total winter losses are calculated in the late spring after vegetative growth resumes, and the surviving area (officially labeled as “final sown area”) is reported by Rosstat in early summer. The USDA will release its initial 2014/15 estimates on May 9, 2014.