Winter wheat harvest starts in US

The developments in the Middle East are difficult to follow. Instead, more attention is being paid on the grain market to weather reports. Those can also change quickly, but for Europe things do not look bad this week. In the US, the combines are already in the winter wheat. In Texas and Oklahoma, almost a quarter of the winter wheat has already been threshed, according to the Crop Progress report from the USDA. The September contract for wheat on the Matif closed yesterday €1.25 lower at €206.50 per ton. On the CBoT, wheat closed 1¾ cent lower at $6.08¾ per bushel. Corn also took a step back and closed 2¾ cent lower at $4.44 per bushel. Soybeans gave up 6 cents in the last trading session to close at $11.80¾ per bushel. Oil was somewhat on the rise but the grain market did not follow. News from the Middle East is fading somewhat into the background and instead players on the grain market are looking more at weather reports. For Europe, growing conditions look reasonably favorable with slightly more moderate temperatures and, just as important, some precipitation in the forecast. Sovecon has lowered the export forecast for Russian wheat in season 2025/26 by 600,000 tons to 46.8 million tons. For 2026/27 the market bureau lowers exports by 1.1 million tons to 46.3 million tons. In doing so, Sovecon goes against the forecast of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. During a cabinet meeting, Russian Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut said that Russia will export a total of 60 million tons of grain in the current 2025/26 season compared with 54 to 55 million tons in the previous forecast. Of the total grain exports, 50 million tons will be wheat according to Lut. Polish farmers sowed 2.9% more grain this year compared with last season, according to the Polish CBS, GUS, in a preliminary estimate. The winter wheat area comes to 2.3 million hectares according to GUS. Due to cold in February, when the mercury locally fell below 25 degrees of frost without sufficient snow, wheat was resown. The spring grain area in Poland comes out 11.7% larger than last year at around 1.2 million hectares. First wheat has been harvested In the US, harvesting of winter wheat has begun, according to the weekly Crop Progress report from the USDA. In total, 5% of the winter wheat area has been harvested compared with 3% last year at this time and the five-year average. In Oklahoma and Texas the harvest is furthest along, with both at 23% threshed. The condition of winter wheat is largely unchanged compared with last week. 26% of the area gets a rating of good or excellent. American farmers are not quite finished with spring wheat sowing yet. Of the intended area, 94% is in the ground. That is equal to last year at this time. Compared with the five-year average, growers are slightly ahead. That stands at 89% sown. Of the spring wheat, 47% of the area gets a rating of good or excellent compared with 50% last year at this time. Corn sowing is also not completely finished yet. 93% is in the ground compared with 92% both in the five-year average and last year at this time. This week the Crop Progress also includes the first table of this season on the condition of corn. 67% gets a rating of good or excellent compared with 69% last year at this time. Of the intended soybean area, 87% is in the ground compared with 80% this week in the five-year average. 66% of soybeans are rated good or excellent compared with 67% last year at this time.