Durum alert: USDA notes severe drought in Morocco

The following is the United States Department of Agriculture’s weekly world weather roundup.

INTERNATIONAL CROP AND WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS
USDA/WAOB Joint Agricultural Weather Facility
February 9, 2016
NORTHWESTERN AFRICA
– Highlight: Severe Drought Continued In Morocco
Severe drought continued to cut yield prospects for wheat and barley in Morocco and western Algeria.
Sunny skies accelerated winter grain development from central Algeria into Tunisia.

EUROPE
– Highlight: UnseasonablyWarm Weather Continued
Much-above-normal temperatures kept crop areas devoid of snow cover and reduced cold hardiness of dormant winter grains and oilseeds from France and the U.K. into Poland and the Balkans.

Dry weather reduced soil moisture for rain-fed winter grains in Spain and northern Italy.

MIDDLE EAST
– Highlight: Favorable Conditions For Winter Grains
Additional rain and mountain snow maintained adequate to abundant moisture reserves for winter grains over Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean Coast.
Sunny, warm weather favoured winter wheat and barley following recent heavy rain in Iraq and Iran.

FSU – Highlight: Unseasonably Warm
Unseasonably warm weather overspread the region, melting snow cover in key southern winter wheat areas but keeping temperatures well above the threshold for freeze damage in Ukraine and Russia.

SOUTH ASIA
– Highlight: Dry, Warm Weather
Dry, warmer-than-normal conditions increased irrigation requirements for winter-grown crops in India.

EAST ASIA
– Highlight: More Seasonable
Temperatures Return For Wheat

Temperatures were more seasonable on the North China Plain following frigid weather last week, but temperatures remained below normal elsewhere, causing isolated damage to sugarcane and winter vegetables.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
– Highlight: More Beneficial
Rainfall In Java, Indonesia
Heavy showers in Java, Indonesia, cut into the seasonal rainfall deficits for rice in central and eastern growing areas.
Showers remained below normal for rice and corn in the Philippines.

AUSTRALIA
– Highlight: More Beneficial Rain
In southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, widespread, locally heavy showers caused some flooding but were overall beneficial for cotton and sorghum.

SOUTH AMERICA
– Highlight: Rain Ends A Period Of Warmth And Dryness In Central Argentina
Late-week rain brought some relief to corn and soybeans after a period of warmth and dryness in Argentina’s Parana River Valley.
Beneficial rain continued throughout corn and soybean areas of
central and southern Brazil.

SOUTH AFRICA

– Highlight: Heat And Dryness Resumed Stress On Corn
Unseasonable warmth and dryness maintained exceptionally poor summer crop prospects in western sections of the corn belt.