Western FSUCool, showery weather maintained overall excellent prospects for reproductive summer crops, while winter wheat harvesting was able to proceed without significant delay in southern growing areas.
A strong storm system and its attendant cold front swept through the region early in the period, accompanied by widespread showers and below-normal temperatures (1-4°C below normal).
Rain totalled 10 to 60 mm (locally more) from central and northern Ukraine into central and northern Russia, maintaining good to excellent yield prospects for reproductive corn as well as heading to filling small grains.
However, the wet conditions hampered winter wheat dry down and harvesting, particularly in the more northerly growing areas.
In southern Russia, light to moderate showers (3-25 mm) maintained favourable conditions for reproductive corn and sunflowers, though there were sufficient breaks in the rainfall to promote winter wheat harvesting.
(nb. grain harvest area currently behind by around 30% on 2014)
Eastern FSU
Showery weather in western spring wheat areas contrasted with increasingly dry conditions farther east.
An approaching cold front triggered moderate to heavy showers (10-50 mm) from Russia’s Urals District into northwestern Kazakhstan, benefiting reproductive spring wheat.
Meanwhile, mostly sunny skies prevailed in the Siberia District, though subsoil moisture remained mostly favourable for reproductive spring wheat following timely early-July rainfall.
Ahead of the cold front, temperatures averaged up to 3°C above normal, with some heat stress possible in the western Siberia District (33-37°C).
Farther south, excessive heat (highs at or above 40°C, with weekly average temperatures above 30°C) likely caused stress to irrigated cotton in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.