Heavy rains damage Kazakhstan crops

With heavy rain falling in Kazakhstan’s major wheat and barley growing regions over the last three weeks, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture has trimmed its production forecast by 10% since its last projection on Aug. 20. In a report released on Sept. 10, the FAS said it now sees Kazakhstan’s wheat output for the 2024-25 marketing year at 14.2 million tonnes, a decline of 1.6 million tonnes in less than a month. It also projects a 400,000-tonne reduction in barley production from the previous forecast, now projecting a 3-million-tonne crop. “Due to almost daily rain in Kazakhstan’s major growing regions, wheat and barley production has been reduced in quantity and quality,” the FAS said. “Farmers report grain becoming wet and putrid and falling onto the ground. They estimate most of the current crop has fallen from grades 1 and 2 to grades 3 and 4.” It noted that about 70% of the country’s wheat and barley crops have not been harvested. ...