Spotlight on SA wheat market
South African Agricultural Commodities Weekly Wrap
June 15, 2018
Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index Declines in Q2, 2018
June 18, 2018
The Western Cape, Free State, Northern Cape and Limpopo are the key winter wheat producing provinces in South Africa, accounting for 95 percent share of the estimated area of 500 500 hectares for the 2018/19 season. The Western Cape province is, however, the main producing province with a share of 64 percent in the overall estimated area. The new season planting is complete across the province, but crop conditions reports paint a mixed picture.
The winter wheat crop is in good condition in the Swartland region, thanks to recent rainfall. In fact, towards the end of last week, the Swartland region received between 20 and 30 millimetres of rainfall, which bodes well with the new season crop. The crop in Overberg region is also in fair condition following good showers in the past couple of weeks. Towards the end of last week, the region received light showers of about 10 millimetres. However, the Southern Cape region has not received notable rainfall since the start of the season and the recently emerged winter wheat crop is not in good shape.
The weather forecast this week promises a possibility of light showers of between 16 and 40 millimetres across most parts of the Western Cape province, which should support crops in the near term. With that said, the subsoil moisture levels are still low across the province due to the recent drought. The province needs intense and persistent rainfall in order to show notable improvements.
Elsewhere, the winter wheat planting activity is still at initial stages in other provinces. The Free State province, which is the second largest wheat producer after the Western Cape, has recently started its planting activity and should gain momentum within the next couple of weeks. The winter wheat crop in the province is produced in both dryland and irrigation areas. The summer rainfall has improved soil moisture levels across the province which bodes well for the new season crop. Furthermore, the irrigation areas could have a good season as dams are almost at full capacity across the province (see Map below).
