Agronomist Notes

Here it is, the 46th and final issue of Beyond Agronomy News for 2009. What a year it has been! I must say, looking back on my travels to New Zealand, Australia and the UK this year, I’m even more encouraged at the potential that lay beneath our feet here in Alberta. I truly believe that we can accomplish a lot more with what we have given our creativity, climate, genetics and passion for farming. I have been inspired by the people I’ve met throughout the year and the absolute resilience and raw determination of farmers everywhere.

Thank you for joining me each week to listen to my thoughts and my attempts to combine common sense with research. I’d like to continue growing this newsletter so I can do new research and afford the time to “run the numbers” on so many projects that are floating around in my head. Anyways, you’ll find some of my favorite articles from 2009 in this week’s newsletter. Have a great Christmas season. We have so much to be thankful for. SL

Agronomy

2009 in review

We started the spring of 2009 with just enough sub-soil moisture to get the crop germinated. Unfortunately, heavy residue and a cold, dry May, June, and early July left crops in a lurch from the beginning. To add insult to injury, some guys had up to five frost events in early June which set yield potential and crop maturity well behind. This caused a lot of frustration for canola growers (and agronomists) who were out checking canola stands every three days, scratching their heads to make the right decision.

The rain finally did come but not in huge amounts with most areas averaging between 3 to 6 inches for the season, the majority falling in July and early August. After the poor emergence and multiple frosts events, I think most of us expected a fall frost to come and significantly knock back yield and quality. Many producers bought out $10.00 canola contracts in early June in fear of having to buying out at $15.00 a bushel in the fall when production ran short. However, the frost didn’t come and our fears were imaginary. Oh, if we’d only known in June what we knew in September we could have saved thousands, but hindsight is, well, useless.

September rolled around and it was unusually hot and dry which helped plants mature quickly. Many of us decided to swath or desiccate barley and wheat to help dry down late tillers. The majority of canola was swathed around mid-September during the hottest and driest period of the year. This forced canola seeds to dry down more rapidly than the chlorophyll could leave the seed leaving many fields with high green counts. The thought of having their only cash crop lose fifty cents a bushel had producers leaving canola in the swath to weather the wind and rain. For some, the gamble paid off with increased grain weight and less green seed count. For others, profit literally blew away in the wind.

In October it started to rain and mist, and then rain with multiple frosts. This pretty much pulled harvest to a grinding halt. Some farmers just waited and waited, some hired more combines and labour to get the crop off quicker. Some were grinding away in November. In the end, I think most would be surprised at the yields that came off with wheat yields from 35 to 55 bu/ac, canola at 28 to 40 bu/ac and barley from 55 to 75 bu/ac.

After this season, my experience tells me to never underestimate the ability of canola to produce yield in tough conditions. I also know now that we can produce more grain by focusing on the little things like seeding depth, fertilizer placement, residue management and proper seeding tools. More money is lost in these four items than any magic dust or silver bullet could bring you. I’m convinced that compaction is a silent killer that we need to address and I’m convinced that inter-row seeding will provide us with the emergence advantage we’re looking for. After reflecting on the challenges in 2009, I’m even more encouraged at what we can accomplish in 2010!

Overkill your drill: does it pay to go big or go home? – March 17th, 2009

We often hear the experts tell us to lower our fixed costs by maximizing the number of acres we cover with our equipment. Don't you think, though, that there's a hidden value in operations like seeding, where a farm could benefit by having an oversized drill to speed up seeding, increase yield and reduce frost risk? Would you settle for lower efficiency to gain on yield and quality?

The rule of thumb is to divide your annual cropped acres by 100 to come up with the optimal seeding tool width. For example, if you seed 4,000 acres annually, you would require a 40-foot drill to reach 100% efficiency. I'm curious to know the additional cost of owning an oversized air drill running at 100%, 80% and 66% efficiency. Let's run the numbers.

In the examples below I'll compare the costs of owning and running a 41, 50 and 61-foot hoe drill on 4,000 acres. I will use the JD 1830 hoe drill and fully loaded 1910 air tank with dual wheels and VRT capable pulled by the JD 9430T, 9530T and 9630T, respectively. Also, to keep things constant, each hoe drill will have 12.5-inch spacing and 4-inch low draft openers that are included in the price of the drill at $200 per opener. Each unit will be financed at 6% over 5 years. Diesel usage will be calculated using Roy Currie's fuel use calculator at today's price of $0.55 per litre.

JD 1830 41 ft with 1910 air cart pulled by 425 HP 9430T

$87,900 + $112,000 + $318,487 = $518,387 or $123,063 per year
Acres per hour: 5 mph × 5,280 ft/mile × 41 ft ÷ 43,560 ft2/ac = 25 ac/hr
Acres per day: 25 ac/hr × 13 hr/day = 325 ac/day
Fuel cost per hour at 1750 RPM at 5MPH: 83 L/hr x $0.55/L = $45.65/hr
Fuel cost per acre: $45.65/hr ÷ 25 ac/hr = $1.82/ac
Cost per acre (fuel + equipment) = $1.82/ac + ($123,063/yr ÷ 4,000 ac) = $32.58 per acre

JD 1830 50ft with 1910 air cart pulled by 475 HP 9530T

$114,000 + $112,000 + $335,513 = $561,513 or $133,301 per year
Acres per hour: 5 mph x 5,280 ft/mile x 50 ft ÷ 43,560 ft2/ac = 30 ac/hr
Acres per day : 30 ac/hr × 13 hr/day = 393 ac/day
Fuel cost per hour at 1750 RPM at 5 mph: 92 L/hr x $0.55/L = $50.60/hr
Fuel cost per acre: $50.60/hr ÷ 30 ac/hr = $1.68/ac
Cost per acre (fuel + equipment) = $1.68/ac + ($133,301/yr ÷ 4,000 ac) = $35.00 per acre

JD 1830 61ft with 1910 air cart pulled by 530 HP 9630T

$125,200 + $112,000 + $360,569 = $597,769 or $141,908 per year
Acres per hour at: 5 mph x 5,280 ft/mile x 61 ft ÷ 43,560 ft2/ac = 37 ac/hr
Acres per day: 37 ac/hr × 13 hr/day = 481 ac/day
Fuel cost per hour at 1750 RPM at 5MPH: 103 L/hr x $0.55/L = $56.65/hr
Fuel cost per acre: $56.65/hr ÷ 37 ac/hr = $1.53/ac
Cost per acre (fuel + equipment) = $1.53/ac + ($141,908/yr ÷ 4,000ac) = $37.00 per acre

Now, before I begin the conclusion, you're probably thinking that $32 to $37 an acre for a seeding tool is crazy! What I've done is left out the residual value of the equipment after five years on purpose. The fact is these pieces of equipment could be worth $150,000+ at the end of five years and overall costs per acre would drop in half to the $15 to $17 an acre range. I needed to keep things simple and constant! In the end, the cost of ownership and fuel to run a 41, 50 and 61-foot air drill on 4,000 acres would be $32.34, $35.00 and $37.00 per acre, respectively. That's a difference of $4.66 per acre to go from a 41-foot air drill running 425 HP to a 61-foot drill running 530 HP. You could theoretically seed 45% faster using a 61-foot drill compared to a 41-foot. In reality, 45% faster means you can seed 4,000 acres in 8.3 days using a 61-foot versus 12.3 days using a 41-foot.

In the grand scheme of fixed costs, I believe the additional $2.66 or $4.66 per acre luxury of having an oversized drill is worth the money. A larger drill allows you to finish seeding earlier, easily adding a few percentage points to yield. When you factor in that most crops have the highest yield potential when seeded before May 7th, a 3 to 5% yield gain is reasonable if you typically find yourself seeding after May 7th. The struggle in our area is that we start seeding at the end of April when the ground thaws which means we have roughly 14 days to get the entire crop in, including rain and snow delays. In my opinion, a few percent in added yield can easily provide a return on your overkill drill investment. SL

Running the numbers on planting depth and emergence

March 31st, 2009- We all know that uneven seeding depth and inaccurate seed placement costs us money. Aside from hoe drills with on-row depth control, many of our regular type hoe drills with wider openers (3" to 6") will leave a seeding depth range of approximately 1.5 inches from top to bottom. A seeding depth range of this magnitude could mean a difference in emergence of approximately one to ten days depending on soil moisture, temperature, texture and residue. The question is, what kind of a return on investment will improved seeding depth generate and is it worth it to purchase a precision, on-row depth control air drill?

In the graph shown here, you can see that 7% of the seeds planted 2 inches deep emerged 2 days later than seeds planted at 1 inch (79% to 72%). Nine percent of seeds planted at 3 inches emerged 4 days later than seeds planted at 1 inch. In this example, we have the potential to increase the seeding depth uniformity in 7% to 9% of the population we seed.

To add to the numbers above, research in Manitoba by Gan, Stobbe and Moes showed that wheat plants emerging early Day 1 to Day 3 yielded 1.4 times higher than plants emerging from Days 4 to 6 and 3.2 times higher than the yield of plants emerging late Day 7 to 9. Using these statistics, let's run the numbers.

Average wheat yield of 50 bu/ac increasing 7% of crop emergence by 3 days
50 bu/ac x 7% x 1.4 = 4.9 bu/ac
4.9 bu/ac x $6.00 bu = $29.40/acre gain
$29.40 ÷ 7 = $4.20/acre for each percentage increase in seedling emergence by 3 days
JD 1830 Air Hoe Drill: 40 foot on 12.5" spacing with openers= $87,700
JD 1870 Air Hoe Drill Hydraulic Precision Depth Control with openers: 40 foot, 12" spacing = $122,000

In this example, you could generate an additional $29.40 return per acre by increasing 7% of your crop emergence by 3 days. The added cost of purchasing a JD 1870 hoe drill with precision depth control over a regular 1830 hoe drill is an additional $34,300 or 39% more.  Based on this example, each percentage increase in seedling emergence would generate a $4.20 return per acre. Think about that! If you could get just one percent of your crop or 1 plant per square foot to emerge 3 days faster, you could generate an additional $16,800 on a 4,000 acre farm. It wouldn't take much to pay for the precision drill. Food for thought. SL

Reference and photo source: ifao.com

Consistent seeding depth pays dividends in yield and maturity

March 31st, 2009- One of the reasons we see a movement towards the John Deere 1870, Morris Contour, SeedMaster and Seedhawk-style drills is the benefit of even seed placement. Precision seed placement translates into higher yields and even maturity when compared to opener styles and air seeders that leave you with 1 to 3 inches of seed depth variability.

Though you may not have a precision drill, paying attention to the details can pay dividends. Dr. Yantai Gan with Agricuture Canada at Swift Current says crops seeded unevenly are the worst. Shallow seeded plants emerge several days faster and compete with the slower emerging, deep seeded plants for water, light and soil nutrients, reducing their yield by up to 50% or more. There can be 10 days between the first and last plants to emerge, which can be crucial in a year with early frost.

Dr. Gan says frost or no frost, crops seeded shallow and uniform have a definite edge. They emerge more quickly and evenly, mature faster, and have higher yields. He led a three-year study that showed canola, mustard, and flax planted uniformly at ¾ of an inch in early May emerged 3 to 5 days faster than seeds planted at 2 inches and had yields up to 25% higher. With lentils, the yield increased up to 15% at ¾ of an inch. Peas and chick peas only yielded 4% more due to their seed size and vigour at deeper depths. A small plot study with wheat showed a 27% increase in yield at 1 inch compared to 2 inches. "Small seeds like canola should never go deeper than an inch, no matter how dry it is. They exhaust energy pushing through deeper soil and it weakens the plant," he stresses.

And it's important to remember the deeper you seed in the spring, the colder it stays, says Dr. Guy Lafond, an Agriculture Canada research scientist at the Indian Head Research Station. Research trials have shown crops emerge up to 17 days faster with a soil temperature increase from 5 to 15 degrees Celsius, says Dr. Lafond. SL

Reference: reducedtillage.ca

Improving seedling emergence, the other side of the equation

April 7th, 2009Last week I discussed the return on investment - we could expect through improved seeding depth and emergence. I discovered that we could generate an additional $16,800 per year on a 4,000 acre farm by switching to a precision drill with on-row depth control. The other side of the story is the cost savings you can achieve through improved germination and emergence. I know that we generate more yield and revenue, but what kind of cost saving can you achieve with a precision drill?

Let's run the numbers using the JD 1830 vs the JD 1870 comparing the effects of a 7% gain in germination and emergence.

The examples below are based on improving germination and emergence by 7%, a realistic target with a switch to a precision drill. Wheat price is $6.00 a bushel, seed treatment is $2.40 a bushel and canola seed is $7.00 a pound.

Seeding rate calculation
Seeding rate (lb/ac) = desired plant population/ft² × 1,000 K wt. (g) ÷ seedling survival rate (in decimal form such as 0.90) ÷ 10.4

Wheat Example:
JD 1830 Seeding rate: 30 ft2 x 35 grams ÷ 85% (baseline emergence) ÷ 10.4 = 118 lbs/ac
JD 1870 Seeding rate: 30 ft2 x 35 grams ÷ 92% (7% improved emergence) ÷ 10.4 = 109 lbs/ac

Canola Example:
JD 1830 Seeding rate: 10 ft2 x 3 grams ÷ 45% (baseline emergence) ÷ 10.4 = 6.4 lbs/ac
JD 1870 Seeding rate: 10 ft2 x 3 grams ÷ 52% (7% improved emergence) ÷ 10.4 = 5.5 lbs/ac

So, in this example you could drop your wheat seeding rate by 7.5% using the JD 1870 and your canola seeding rate by 14%. That's a savings of $1.41 per acre in seed and seed treatment for wheat and $5.60 an acre for canola. Theoretically, a 4,000 acre farm seeding 3,000 acres of wheat and 1,000 acres of canola could save $9,830 a year by improving seedling emergence by just 7%. Add the $34,300 gained through a 7% improvement in emergence calculated in last week's article and we stand to gain $44,130 per year by switching from a conventional drill to one with precision on-row depth control. SL

For more information on the various precision drills on the market, see the November 20, 2007 issue of Beyond Agronomy News. Click here

Inter-row seeding boosts wheat yields by 12%

June 23rd, 2009- I've been harping on about inter-row seeding for two years now and we finally have some research from the Ag Canada research station at Swift Current that's showing great results. Trials have shown a 12% yield advantage in wheat when using inter-row seeding technology. Yield is only one of many benefits; I've previously written about weed suppression, fewer root diseases, crop emergence, seeding depth, maturity and sometimes protein to name a few.

We use a GPS light bar at home on our 40-foot Concord drill with 4-inch low draft GEN openers. We can still hit the inter-row probably 60 to 70% of the time without RTK guidance or auto steer. It seems the openers naturally want to fall in between the row where there is the least resistance. The picture on the top right is of a field of CDC Go wheat we seeded on May 10th. You can see how inter-row seeding can be done without a lot of difficulty. This crop was seeded into 60 bushel wheat stubble from last year with no trouble. 

The picture below is the same field which shows the difference in plant height. The two plants on the left were seeded into an area with flattened stubble compared to the plants on the right which were seeded inter-row into 10-inch standing stubble. You can see that all plants are at the 4 leaf stage yet the plants on the right are 3 to 4 inches taller. Plants naturally want to grow towards the light. Inter-row seeding provides the right environment for plants to grow tall and capture sunlight. The bigger and longer the leaves, the more sunlight they capture and more sugars they produce which translates into energy and carbohydrate production. Energy and carbohydrate production translates directly to yield.
Other added benefits of inter-row seeding are lower draft load on the seeding tool, which can result in improved fuel efficiency and the ability to seed faster without plugging. Inter-row seeding creates a micro-climate for plants, providing shelter from wind and warming effect from black soil. You'll see better stand establishment, improved seed to soil contact compared to seeding through stubble. Also, increased harvest ability and less losses in pulses. Crops such as lentils climb stubble rows which increases harvest efficiency from taller plants.

There are a number of dealers putting up RTK base stations with an annual subscription charge so you don't have to buy an expensive RTK base station. Also, Roydale New Holland out of Red Deer has a new wireless RTK subscription in our area that allows you to get into RTK ready precision for less than $3,800, provided your GPS is RTK ready. If it isn't, then it may cost you another $5,000. I have one client who has set up for inter-row seeding this year to begin seeing the benefits in 2010. I hope everyone will see this technology as a step above auto steer and take yields to the next level. SL

Links to inter-row seeding articles:
grdc.com.au
fm500.com.au 
alkalinesoils.com.au

What is the major limiting factor in our crop production systems?

July 14th, 2009- Did you know that 95% of what a plant needs is a combination of carbon, water and oxygen? The remaining 5% of a plants needs are nutrients. Think about that for a second then ask yourself, where do I focus the most attention when trying to achieve higher yields? I would guess that most would say fertilizer, fungicides, insecticides, genetics and not one of us would say carbon, water or oxygen. We spend all of our energy trying to maximize 5% of what our plants need and yet we completely ignore the other 95%!

So where does this bring us? What can we do to increase the level of carbon, water and oxygen in our soils? Here's my take on what we need to focus on to take yields to the next level:

1. Carbon
   1. Ditch the heavy harrows and start with managing residue better instead of building equipment to handle or fix poor residue management skills. Develop a residue management system that spreads a thin layer of residue across the top of the soil surface while maintaining tall stubble. The only way to achieve this is through controlled traffic farming coupled with inter-row seeding and RTK guided autosteer.
   2. Include crop rotations with high carbon content. Winter wheat has the potential to add huge amounts of soil carbon given the long growing period and large root mass it leaves behind. Basically all cereals like barley, triticale, wheat, and grass forage seed crops are adequate but winter cereals are better.
   3. Include legumes when possible. Legumes do not add a lot of carbon but they do add a season long release of nitrogen which is necessary to cycle carbon throughout the growing season.
2. Water
   1. Reduce compaction from wheel traffic through larger wheel footprints on all machinery or move to controlled traffic. Reduced compaction increases water infiltration rates and improves water use efficiencies because essentially, plants don't have to suck water through a micro-straw to get at it. Think about the effort it requires when you try to suck a thick milkshake through a narrow straw- your cheeks hurt and the reward is minimal. Similarly, that's what we force our plants to do when we pack the soil with our equipment, leaving very few channels for water to flow freely.
   2. Leave residue on the surface to keep ground and roots cool which reduces transpiration. Residue also acts as a buffer to absorb compaction caused by rain which leads to soil crusting.
3. Oxygen
   1. Pay close attention to soil structure. Soil structure is the key to reducing the energy requirements of a plant to take up oxygen and water. The goal is to provide a soil environment where oxygen, water and nutrients can flow freely.
   2. Rotate crops with fibrous roots (wheat) and tap roots (canola).
   3. Eliminate compaction from wheel traffic.

Photo source: Michael Eyres, Forward Scout, Australia

Slowing down when seeding canola pays

August 4th, 2009- I had the opportunity to watch and compare the emergence and maturity across thousands of acres of canola this year. As we know, 2009 proved to be very challenging with heavy residue combined with cool, dry soils and several frost events hammering plant stand densities. In fact, most the canola fields out there looked downright ugly a month ago! I did have one client whose fields stood out among the rest with excellent emergence, uniformity and maturity. Why? Seeding speed!

We all know that speed kills, especially when it comes to planting canola. The picture above shows a 460 acre field of canola with rolling, hilly topography that has just finished bloom. Right from the start, this field emerged uniformly, looked excellent all season long and finished blooming all at once. The biggest difference was that it was seeded at 3.8 to 4 MPH while the others were seeded at 4.8 to 5.5 MPH. That's just one mile an hour slower and look at the great results. By contrast, the picture below is a canola field just four miles away that is finishing bloom in some areas and just starting in others. I love the blooming canola in the wheel tracks. What do you think uneven maturity is costing producers each year? Let's run the numbers.

Steve's quick math
Example: 160 acre canola field with 20% finishing bloom 10 days later with an average yield of 30 bu/ac. Canola is $10 a bushel.

160 acres × 20% = 32 acres effected
30 bu/ac × 50 lbs/bu = 1,500 lbs/ac of canola
1,500 lbs × 30% reduction in seed size due to early swathing = 450 lbs/ac
450 lbs/ac ÷ 50 lbs/bu = 9 bu/ac
9 bu/ac × 32 acres effected = 288 bu
288 bu × $10.00 = $2,880 total loss or $18.00/ac

So, with just a 30% reduction in seed size on 20% of the field that matured 10 days later, we lost a total of $18.00 an acre across the entire field. If you seed 500 to 1,500 acres of canola, you're looking at a loss of $9,000 to $27,000 each year. Sound significant? You might think twice about speeding through seeding next year. SL

For more information see RTL seeding speed research.

Carbon Market News

Canada’s climate change conundrum

November 30, 2009- As Copenhagen looms large, it’s starting to appear that Canada’s bad boy reputation on climate change may be catching up with us. This wasn’t going to be much of a problem as the Federal Government pointed out, since Copenhagen was going to be a bust and everyone was going to go home with no progress on an international climate change deal. Therefore, why bother creating a national climate change policy that may have to be adhered to. What a difference a few weeks can make.

As it stands today, Canada has no official policy on how it intends to meet any climate change goal, let alone meeting the one the US has put forward for Copenhagen, a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2005 levels. What our Federal leaders have apparently missed is that the world went on without us. China has announced targets, the EU has announced targets, and Australia is trying to push through its climate change plan before Copenhagen.

All this renewed effort to get some kind of a global deal on climate change has left Canada out in the cold. Clearly the actions of the Federal Government has been to do no more than what is required to prevent our trade partners from slapping a countervailing duty on us for lax GHG policies; policies that would act to benefit our export sectors. This is a good strategy if you want to thwart a climate deal, or don’t believe the world will ever get its act together so you won’t have to do anything anyway. It’s not like Canada has invested in any real reductions, in fact our GHG emissions have skyrocketed over the last decade.

What Canada may have also missed, is that most of the world is looking to wean itself off fossil fuels. The debate over climate change can arguably be presented as an argument for renewable energy, eco-system improvements, or even economic development. This has left Canada with a primary industry that may not be that well positioned for the imposition of climate change regulations to meet the standards of our trade partners. Of course, industries with high GHG emissions will be entitled to a significant amount of tax payer support to help them adjust to new tougher GHG standards. We have lost track of how many times the Federal Government has announced some new tough stance on reducing GHGs, only to abandon it on the eve of implementation. So who can blame Canada’s industry for being ill prepared, it’s not like they have had any leadership on the issue.

So it’s off to Copenhagen we go, with a Prime Minister that really doesn’t care to be there, a collection of Provincial environment ministers with widely divergent views on what GHG reductions are achievable, and a Federal environment minister who has had to change his story so many times even he must be confused, but it doesn’t matter because there isn’t a plan anyway. Therefore, it is with great anticipation that we look forward to Copenhagen, if for nothing more than the entertainment value Canada will bring to the talks.

Reference: Bruce Love, Preferred Carbon

Market News

Technical Update

Canola: January futures
HRS Wheat: December futures
Canadian dollar: December futures
Crude Oil: December futures

International Crop and Weather News

United States: Corn’s national harvesting pace jumped 11% to 79% this week vs. talk of 78-82% overall level.  Most major states had weekly advances similar to the national, but some of the northern states still remain significantly behind with ND (40%), SD (58%), and WI (67%) still hoping for good weather for another 2-3 weeks. U.S. wheat’s good/excellent ratings also slipped 1% to 63% this week.  Declines in the PNW and N Plains winter wheat seem to the reason for slippage with slow planting in IL (92%), MO (69%) and the Delta (AR-91%) further suggesting 1.5 to as much as 2 million less soft red wheat won’t be planted this fall.  This week’s soybeans harvested advanced 25 to 96% nationwide. MO (93%),  AR (96%) and the SE (NC – 56%) is where the remaining harvest remains in the fields with this week’s heaviest rainfall being forecast for these two s along with Mid-Atlantic.

Europe: Showers in northern Europe provide additional soil moisture for vegetative winter crops. Intensifying drought in central Spain reduces irrigation supplies for winter wheat planting.

Middle East: Widespread showers boost soil moisture and irrigation supplies in Turkey and northwestern Iran. Much-needed rain improves prospects for wheat and barley in central and southern Iraq.

North Africa: Dry weather further reduces soil moisture for winter wheat and barley planting in Morocco and western Algeria, where little if any rain has fallen since September. Sunny skies in Algeria and eastern Tunisia promote winter grain emergence, following recent rain.

Former Soviet Union: Warm, wet weather in Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia favors winter grains. Showers in southern Russia improve prospects for winter wheat establishment.
South Asia: Rain in central India maintains unfavorable wetness for mature cotton and soybeans. Rain in southeastern India benefits immature rice and cotton.

East Asia: In China, melting snow cover provides favorable moisture for cold-hardening winter wheat and winter rapeseed.

Southeast Asia: Rainfall continues to overspread Java, Indonesia, benefiting newly transplanted rice and encouraging further rice transplanting. Showers boost soil moisture for winter grown rice and corn in the eastern and southern Philippines.

Australia: Widespread, soaking rains overspread southeastern Australia, halting winter grain harvesting and reducing quality. In Western Australia, showers continue to hamper harvesting and raise concerns about crop quality. In the east, hot, mostly dry weather increases irrigation requirements for vegetative summer crops.

South America: Much-needed rain in northern and western Argentina increases moisture for newly emerging summer grains, oilseeds, and cotton. In Brazil, ample rain benefits soybeans and other emerging summer crops, although unharvested wheat remains unfavorably wet.

South Africa: Rain covers most of the corn belt, aiding germination and establishment of summer crops.

Source: USDA