Frosts in Russia damaged 500 thousand hectares or 0.8% of the area under spring crops

Frosts in the central regions of Russia have led to a speculative rise in global wheat prices. As a reminder, the Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency in Tambov, Lipetsk, Voronezh and part of Volgograd regions due to the frost.

This year’s candidate for the post of the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Oksana Lut, said that 500 thousand hectares of land will have to be reseeded due to frost damage.

Sowing areas for crops for the 2024 harvest in Russia have increased by 300 thousand hectares to 84.5 million hectares compared to last year, including 20 million hectares of winter crops, almost 95% of which are in good condition. Earlier in Russia, winter crop losses due to severe frosts reached 8-10%, and now they do not exceed 1-2%. In addition to the frost, the situation is complicated by a long dry period in the south, where plants are in dire need of rain.

At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture promised to pay attention to the work of insurance companies to ensure that bona fide insurers are compensated for losses caused by adverse weather (especially in case of emergencies) within 10 days.

It seems that the new candidate for the post of the Minister is reinsuring against the possibility of a reduction of the harvest in 2024 due to frost and drought to 86-90 mln tons (92 mln tons last year), and is also inflating the situation to increase world wheat prices, which will amount to 20 mln tons at the beginning of the new season, which is 50% higher than in 2022/23 MY.

All news channels in Russia report that “Russia is facing a low harvest, so the whole world is worried,” which indicates a coordinated information policy aimed at speculative pressure on prices.

Tags: Russia, crop condition