Over the last week Sterling has remained relatively stable, and firmer than has been seen recently against both the € and $. Wheat prices in the UK remain firm. The UK wheat price took strength from a rally in Chicago on the back of lack of US stock.
The May20/Nov20 spread remains a key focus. There is a large surplus on old crop, and planting delays are now a real threat to the new crop. Last week saw a few drier days with the trade hoping that planting could resume to avoid upsetting the projections for the S&D for new crop. However, the ground was still too wet it most areas, and many arable farmers have decided to hope for better conditions in the spring. Spring planting could be the key to what is available next year, with both wheat and barley as options. The new crop price does seem to have reached a short term peak unless any change is made in the global market. New crop prices have hit a level at which it would become cheaper to import than use the large stocks, so at the moment any price movement is limited.
Chicago wheat strengthened, as did the Matif milling wheat, supported by comments about EU acreage loss due to the poor weather.The heavy rain is forecast to continue, and little progress with sowing FranceAgiMer data showed falls in the crop rating for both wheat and barley.The International Grains Council raised the world wheat area for 20/21 by 1%.Wet weather is preventing progress in the EU and Ukraine. The IGC world wheat crop estimate remained unchanged at 762 Mln T.
Uncertainty in the US/China trade deal has again sent the Chinese buyers looking to buy soya beans from Brazil. 20 cargoes were secured by Chinese buyers to lock in supplies into the new harvest for delivery early next year. Smaller amounts of Argentinian and US soya were also purchased. The US is suffering from significant decreases in the share of Chinese purchases over the last year, so the removal of tariffs will be key to future trade and market direction. There is uncertainty on the progress with the negotiations, yet the USDA is holding production to `unchanged’ although the crush has been lowered in the US as soya prices decreased. Nonetheless, US soya exports were above predictions at 1.8 Mln T with Chinese state buyers thought that purchases, even with the tariffs, may be key to the trade deal being reached. Despite this positive factor, US show that total exports are far lower than normal, and the total commitments are the lowest they have been for 8 years. The futures are often steady at this stage before the South American harvest politics in all these major producing countries will remain the driver in price volatility.
Agriculture and farming are taking huge leaps forward using technology to improve the way we work. From using drones to tracking crop progress, microchip detecting feeders for individual animals and apps that keep all our information with us at the touch of a button.
After a hard days farming many of us also turn to technology to relax. Well it seems Russia has decided that it is not just the humans that can benefit from relaxing with technology.
The Russian agricultural ministry has apparently held a project at a large dairy farm where virtual reality headsets are being tested to improve the mood of cows in the hopes that a happy cow is a more productive cow. With modified headsets and a colour scheme that matches the eyesight of cows, these hard-working milk makers are transported to a sunny summer field with soothing red focused colour scheme. Early tests have reported decreases in anxiety and improved mood for the cows. The next steps are to test if this translates to an improvement in milk production. Science has shown that Classical music can reduce stress in hens, while vertical reality has been used on mice to study brain function so this might work. However, cows trying to gallop in open fields when actually in a concrete yard filled with other cows might not be so beneficial and it might be a challenge to expand and build tiny VR headset onto every hen in your flock.
Brought to you by Melanie Blake and Martin Humphrey
