News Harvest 2018
Snow disrupts harvest in Canada and Australia
In Canada, snow last week threw a spanner in the works for the harvest of the various crops. It was not about a little snow, but about 15 centimeters. Snow also caused problems in Australia.
The snow fell mainly in the western regions of Canada, such as Alberta and Saskatchewan. Because 15 centimeters of snow has fallen, the harvest (which had just started in many places) has come to a halt. While wheat yields there have seemed good so far, the snow could cause quality issues.
An Alberta farmer expects his wheat, which has not yet fully matured, to yield less. The wheat for human consumption will change to wheat for animal feed, which means that the grower will catch less money. "Even if the weather is perfect from now on, the harvest will still be delayed."
Potato harvest delayed
The potato harvest in the affected region has also been delayed. However, the yield will not be much lower, because the snow has protected the crop from the early cold.
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Australia affected
Cold temperatures and snow are also causing problems in western Australia. About 500.000 to 1 million tons of grain would have been 'swept away'. The cultivation of rapeseed in particular has been hit hard, because the temperatures dropped so far below 0 degrees that the crops were frozen to pieces.
Wheat has been hit less hard, partly because the crop has not yet developed sufficiently. A harvest of 10 million tons is expected. It is especially sour for the growers, because good prices and yields were on the horizon, partly due to poor yields elsewhere in the country.
Anne-Jan Doorn
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