Last week AgriLand reported the World Meteorological Association’s (WMO’s) prediction that there is a 75-80% chance of an El Nino forming in the next three months.

This week Samantha Stevenson – a climate scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara – told National Geographic that: “With an El Nino, it’s entirely possible 2019 will be the hottest year ever.”

2018 is predicted to be the hottest year on record and the WMO has stated that 2019 is likely to be warmer than 2018. Global warming has seen average temperatures rise in the past number of years.

20 of the hottest years on record have occurred in the past 22 years.

While an El Nino would no doubt affect cropping in Australasia and South America, it is unclear what impact the hot weather of 2019 could have on grain supply worldwide – if any, as planting has increased on 2017-2018 in many areas.

Meanwhile, snow has landed in parts of Ukraine and Russia and at home wet weather has put an end to winter field work.

The winter cereal acreage is estimated to be up 27,800ha. The biggest increase is in winter barley area, which increased by 17,800ha from 2017/2018.

Also Read: Winter cereal area up 27,800ha – Teagasc estimates

The markets remain relatively stable and hasn’t moved much since last week.

LIFFE

LIFFE wheat for January started the week (December 3) at £170.75/t (€191.51/t) and moved very little throughout, reaching £171.10/t (€191.90/t) on Thursday (December 6).

MATIF

The MATIF wheat price for December started the week at €202.25/t. It dropped to €199.00/t on Wednesday (December 5), before climbing back to €200.00/t on Thursday (December 6). On Friday afternoon the price had reached €201.00/t.

CBOT

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat for March dropped from the beginning of the week. On Monday (December 3), the price stood at 521.25c/bu (€168.12/t) and by Thursday hit 515.50c/bu (€166.51/t).