Earlier today, Russia's Vladimir Putin heard a report on harvest progress and production forecast from the Minister of Agriculture, Aleksandr Tkachev.
The Minister reported on the completion of the plantings and an increase of 300,000 hectares on last year to 80 million hectares.
He also recalled low temperature in some regions delayed harvest by two weeks although the country's farmers have already collected the first 20 million tonnes of grain.
"If it is a warm and dry autumn, and we can complete the harvest of the Urals and Siberia at the optimum time, then the grain harvest will exceed 105 million tonnes or more” said an upbeat Tkachev.
The anticipated level of production and expected domestic consumption (70 million tonnes) will leave a surplus about 35 million tonnes for export said the Minister.
I’m now looking forward to Michael Gove’s equally upbeat and widely reported harvest report to Theresa May, any day now…