context: After the summer harvest felt the impact of unseasonal rains in Henan in June 2023, the key wheat-producing Huanghuaihai (North China Plain) region has received special attention from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2024. First for mitigating 'hot dry winds' and then for lodging, which threatens to drop yields by as much as 30 percent. The forecasted heatwave afflicts a larger proportion of wheat-producing regions, after central and local reserves began purchasing wheat to support market prices in early June, aiming to alleviate producer and market anxieties. Wheat imports were up 15.5 percent y-o-y in April 2024, suggesting further protections for wheat growers may become necessary.
Northern China is facing the most intense heat wave of the year so far over 10-14 June, reports China Meteorological Association. This extreme weather coincides with the critical winter wheat harvesting period, posing significant challenges for farmers and machinery operations across the affected regions.
- wheat harvest
- 12.67 million hectares as of 5 June
- 57 percent of planned area
- 17.7 percent rate increase y-o-y
- harvest completed in Sichuan and Hubei
- over 90 percent progress in Anhui and Henan
- over 40 percent progress in Shaanxi
- peak harvest imminent in Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei
- 12.67 million hectares as of 5 June
- equipment support
- 250,000 combines in daily use
- majority high-efficiency models dominating
- capable of harvesting up to 20 ha/day
- majority high-efficiency models dominating
- 250,000 combines in daily use
- heatwave
- maximum temperatures of 39-42°C in
- southern Hebei
- Henan
- Shandong
- Turpan Basin, Xinjiang
- historical temperature records likely broken in
- Shandong
- Henan
- Shanxi
- Shaanxi
- maximum temperatures of 39-42°C in
- regional impact on harvest
- Hebei
- peak wheat harvest imminent
- red high-temperature warning issued at 5am 10 June
- Baoding and southwards will reach 37-39°C
- over 40°C in southern Hengshui, Xingtai and Handan
- Jiangsu
- peak wheat harvest imminent
- orange high-temperature warning issued at 6am 10 June
- temperatures to hover around 35-36°C
- Shandong
- peak wheat harvest imminent
- orange high-temperature warning issued at 6am 10 June
- 35-6°C in east and south
- potentially exceeding 40°C in west and north
- Henan
- over 90 percent of wheat harvest underway
- 68 percent of monitoring sites have recorded drought since late April
- 9-14 June sees prolonged high temperatures
- northern and central-eastern Henan will reach 40-42°C from 11-13 June
- roads and highway surface temps to top 62°C
- risking tyre blowouts
- Hebei