The two largest grain exporters on planet earth look in bad shape. Agricultural output in the Ukraine fell by 19% during the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year. And Russia hasn’t fared much better.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky blamed unfavorable weather conditions for 2020’s dire harvest — as a result, grain prices in the nation with big “agrarian superpower” ambitions are on the rise.
A record cold and rainy May in the center and west of Ukraine, and drought in the south destroyed much of the grain, reports ria.ru. Added to that are the persistent June rains to the west which seriously delayed the harvest efforts.
Russia is also battling drought — up to 60% of the harvest has been lost in the south, and prices are on the rise their, too.
Associate Professor of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy Igor Abakumov said that the last drought was 10 years ago, and with the phenomenon occurring at intervals of 3-7 years, Russia was “over the limit of favorable years”.
Currently, there is no ban on the export of grain –as was the case back in 2010– but, nevertheless, local restrictions have been introduced. There are mounting fears that the country will suffer a grain shortage this year, and imports are already being arranged, reports irk.kp.ru.
Transcontinental Russia has been buffeted by weather extremes this year.
Siberia’s heatwave made the headlines –surprise, surprise– but did you know that record cold and summer snow followed that heat, and were you also aware that the Russian capital suffered a record cold and wet month of April. Probably not if all you read is the MSM, as they’re only-ever interested in one side of the story — heat. Serving as proof, just note how the AGW-cabal’s interest in this part of the world has dissipated of late. Could that be because Eastern Russia –and much of Europe for that matter– has been suffering anomalous cold?
Along with the majority of Siberia?
Earth’s climate is cyclic, never linear.
And despite what the delusional, eco-warrior-infiltrated MSM would have you believe, a solar-driven cooling cycle is actually returning, the science suggests the lower-latitudes are in fact refreezing–all in line with historically low solar activity, cloud-nucleating Cosmic Rays, and a meridional jet stream flow. Even NASA appear to agree, if you read between the lines, with their forecast for this upcoming solar cycle (25) seeing it as “the weakest of the past 200 years,” with the agency correlating previous solar shutdowns to prolonged periods of global cooling here.
