Favourable early-season conditions continued for vegetative to reproductive small grains in the north and cotton in the south.
In the spring wheat belt of northern Kazakhstan and central Russia, dry, cool weather (up to 2°C below normal) was beneficial for heading to flowering spring barley (Volga and Urals Districts) as well as jointing spring wheat (northern Kazakhstan and environs); as of July 1, these same locales have reported 100 to 300 percent of normal precipitation over the past 60 days.
In Russia’s Siberia District, well-placed showers and thunderstorms (10-60 mm, locally more) eased or eliminated short-term dryness and improved prospects for jointing to heading spring grains.
Meanwhile, seasonably dry weather and near-normal temperatures (within 1°C of normal) promoted the development of flowering cotton (which is heavily irrigated) in eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.