According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin, published on Tuesday (5), dry weather remained dominant in the Western FSU region, with rainfall recorded only in the northern and eastern areas. In early October, essential precipitation hit eastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. However, the region experienced the second consecutive week of sunny weather and above-average temperatures, ranging from 1 to 4°C higher than usual. In some areas near the Black Sea coast, temperatures reached 5°C above average. This weather favored both the harvest of late summer crops and the early development of winter crops.
Despite recent rainfall, long-term drought is still impacting many agricultural areas. Vegetation health indices, detected by satellite, reveal insufficient crop vigor. This indicates that moisture conditions remain inadequate for optimal crop development. Some areas, such as Moldova and western Ukraine, have shown improvements in winter crops due to September rains.
In the regions between northern Belarus and the Volga District of Russia, moderate to heavy rainfall (10-50 mm) helped restore soil moisture, which benefited winter crops that were close to dormancy. In other parts of the region, winter grains and oilseeds are still actively growing, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions.
Source: Seane Lennon | agrolink
