WORLD’S WHEAT CROP

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 32

WORLD’S WHEAT CROP

LOWEST FOR FIVE YEARS FAILURE IN U.S. AND CANADA The world s wheat crop harvest of 1929 is the lowest since 1924, according to figures received by the international Institute o£ Agriculture. The reason lor this is the comparative failure of the wheat crop in the United States and Canada, says the Rome correspondent of the “Morning Post.” The world's wheat harvest, accordj ing to forecasts for the • northern | hemisphere, which is only susceptible i to unimportant modifications, will be ! less than 1928 by about 300,000,000 : metric quintals (30,000,000 tons). It I should be remembered that in this | estimate the southern hemisphere, I namely, Argentine, Australia and j South Africa, which latter country is I a small wheat producer, are excluded, I their returns not yet being available. For four-fifths of the northern j hemisphere of the world, otherwise ISO per cent, the estimated wheat crop is 643,000,000 metric quintals, as against 746,000,000 metric quintals in 1928. The average for the past five years for this four-fifths of the north- - ern hemisphere was 673,000,000 metric quintals. The reason why figures are at pres ent only available for four-fifths of the harvest of the northern hemisphere is that Russia and China do not return statistics, while France and Serbia do not issue theirs till later. France’s crop is expected to be good to excellent. Europe's wheat crop is forecasted as good for countries whose returns are available —Russia, France, Serbia and Greece excluded. Europe’s crop is estimated at 228,000,000 metric quintals, or 15,000,000 less than last year, and 12,000,000 better than the average. [The reason • for the drop of about 100,000,000 metric quintals in the world's production, or the four-fifths thereof for which figures are available, is the prolonged summer drought in Canada and the United States. Canada’s production is estimated at 66,000,000 metric quintals less than ip 1928, while the drop in the United States crop is estimated at 32,000,000. Europe's diminution of 15,000,000 quintals is due to the relative failure j of the Rumanian, Hungarian and 1 garian crops. For Western Europe the forecast is better than for Eastern Europe. An early report of Argentine and Australian wheat, which is at present in the germinating period, indicates not over favourable conditions.