October 12, 2009

The USDA estimates Russia wheat production for 2009-10 at 57.5 million tonnes, up 1.0 million or 2 percent from last month but down 6.2 million or 10 percent from last year's record crop, the US Department of Agriculture said Friday (October 9) in its monthly crop circular report.

Barley production is estimated at 18.0 million tonnes, up 2.0 million or 13 percent from last month but down 5.1 million or 22 percent from last year. The revised production estimates are based chiefly on harvest-progress data released by Rosstat (the State Statistical Committee of Russia) and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Wheat area is estimated at 28.8 million hectares and barley at 29.1 million, both unchanged from last month. Spring wheat accounts for slightly over half of total Russian wheat area, and spring barley for nearly 95 percent of the barley.

As of Oct. 6, according to Ministry of Agriculture data, total-grain harvest was approximately 85 percent complete throughout the country. Wheat and barley harvest is finished in the Southern and Central Districts, and winding down in the Volga and Ural Districts. In the Siberian District, total-grain harvest is lagging behind last year (72 percent complete compared to 83 percent by the same date last year), but output to date is nearly 15 percent above last year due to a 28-percent year-to-year increase in cumulative yield.

The Siberian District accounts for about 25 percent of the country's wheat area and 15 percent of the barley area. Harvest data suggest that as much as 20 percent of the sown grain area in the Volga District will not be harvested due to excessive summer drought. The Volga and Ural Districts together account for 35 percent of the wheat area and over 40 percent of the barley area.