China - Wheat Crop Faces Severe Drought

On 9 February 2011 both Brownfield Ag News for America and the Wall Street Journal reported that China was preparing for failure of its wheat harvest due to prevalent drought conditions.  The Chinese State Council had created a ten point plant that included $180 million to develop new wheat and corn fields, and $1 million in drought relief. 

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture reported that "about two-thirds of crop land for winter wheat is affected by the drought."  In Rome, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirmed reports from China that the drought does in fact extend to two-thirds of the wheat crop and covers Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Hebei and Shanxi."

Wheat producers around the world are watching China's wheat crop.  Failure could mean a further rise in U.S. imports and the cost of global price of wheat.  This is because Russia still has a ban in place of wheat following last years wildfires and Australia has struggled with flooding. 

"Xinhua reported Tuesday that Shandong, a cradle of Chinese civilization along the Yellow River and the birthplace of Confucius, has had only 12 millimeters of rain since last September. The report cited Meteorological Bureau estimates that if there isn't substantial precipitation by the end of the month, the province will have suffered its worst drought in two centuries."

For more see:


Areddy, James T. "U.N. Cites Risk to China's Wheat Crop," Wall Street Journal, 9 February 2011.

Hart, Carah. "Chinese government prepares for potential wheat loss," Brownfield Ag News for America, 9 February 2011.