Europe temperature anomaly December 2017 and first half January 2018. EU Commission

CROPS in eastern Europe have dodged the immediate risk of winterkill as fresh snow cover late January, sufficient to blanket crops, appeared to have alleviated the exposure for the moment.

Concerns had been front of mind through the first half of winter owing to lack of snow cover resulting from unseasonably warm weather.

“It was definitely warmer than usual, with the past 60 days being around 5-8 degrees Fahrenheit above average in Russia and Ukraine,” MarketCheck, manager –strategy and managed programs, Nick Crundall said.

“The market was watching closely, as we did see temperatures finally drop, which was a risk we could see some winterkill.

“Fears were largely alleviated as snow fell across large swaths of the cropping regions in Russia/Ukraine recently, but snow depth is below average, even though it should protect the crop adequately.

“We’re also past the coldest period of year for Russia, and temperatures look okay for the next 15 days.

“Each week we see no extreme weather, the less the risk is of any winter issues in Russia.”

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