Snow has, and still is, falling over much of Russia and Ukraine and, to the excitement of many, it’s sticking!By now, mid to late January, we’d expect to see 20-30cm of accumulated snow blanketing winter crops.
The latest satellite data shows it to be less than 5cm over
large swathes of crop land, but that is still sufficient to offer protection
if temperatures drop.
There is still a lot of winter to go but we are now passing the point when on average we see the lowest temperatures of the year.
That’s not to say we couldn’t still see some double-digit-minus-thermometer readings before winter is over, but as each day goes by
that becomes less and less likely.
Given that winter crops went into the winter in good
condition, most are now covered in snow and day length is on the increase, the risk of any winter related crop damage is low to very low.
Our next Black Sea Crop Tour is scheduled for March when we
will properly assess post winter crop condition and get a first idea of yield potential,
subscription details to follow shortly.