In the primary winter wheat areas of central and southern Ukraine, a second consecutive week of rain (5- 25 mm) further improved soil moisture for vegetative winter wheat following a protracted dry spell during late winter and early spring.
In southern Russia, moderate to heavy showers (10-30 mm) maintained good to excellent conditions for vegetative winter wheat and kept soils moist for corn and sunflower planting (sown in late April and early May, respectively).
Farther west, 5 to 20 mm of rain maintained good early-season soil moisture for spring grains and summer crops in Moldova, Belarus, and western Ukraine.