Heavy rains in Kazakhstan
have stopped the spring planting campaign in almost all oblasts of the country according
to Auezkhan Darinov, Chairman of the Union of Farmers of Kazakhstan.
Mr Darinov said that in general spring planting should be completed by 1 June with some
regions going on to 5 June but it is too early to say that the planting campaign
is at risk of failure.
But he conceded that if it
keeps raining for another three or four days then that risk will appear. According to
forecasts it’s expected to rain for the next three or four days so it appears
there is a risk.
To date Ministry
figures say farmers have planted 1.2mha (8.8%) of spring grains as opposed to 1.8mha (12.6%) on the same date last year.
If these numbers are
accurate - I can’t currently access the Ministry website to confirm - this would
put a big dent in Kazakhstan’s grain output this year.
Although it is worth
reminding ourselves that it’s not the planting date that’s important it’s the
emergence date.
Planting late into
warm moist soils is often the same as planting early in to dry soils so don’t
write them off just yet.