Weather update on pulse producing regions/
Weekly report

Australia

• With many parts of South Australia (SA) seeing below average rainfall over the start of this winter, lentil yield potential looks set to limit total production to similar levels of last year, in spite of the 62% rise in sown area, reports Grain Central this week.

• In the same article, Grain Central reports that dry conditions in SA have led to a faba bean production forecast that is 29% below last year's final harvest numbers.

• Over the last week, “little to no rainfall” was seen across SA, Victoria, and parts of southern New South Wales. This is likely to mean a “continued drawdown in soil moisture reserves and some moisture stress in crops with minimal soil moisture reserves” according to the Climate, Water and Agricultural update for August 15. 

• Next week, Western Australia, SA, Victoria, and southern NSW look set to receive rainfall between 10-50 mm – with much of the strongest rain forecast to fall in lentil and chickpea cropping zones.
  
  

India

• As of August 15, India's monsoon sits at a surplus of 6% compared to the long period average, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) figures.

• Coastal Karnataka and South Interior Karnataka are predicted to have heavy rainfall over today and tomorrow, whereas Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are expected to receive heavy, and between heavy and very heavy rainfall respectively, starting tomorrow.

• Between June 1-August 15, West Bengal, Maharashtra, East & West Rajasthan, Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, and Coastal & South Interior Karnataka were all classified as having received excess rains. Tamil Nadu is classified as being in large excess.

• All other pulse producing states are classed as having received neutral rains compared to the average, aside from Punjab, which is currently classed as deficient.
  
  

Canada

• The field pea harvest has begun in Manitoba, with some peas "lodged" in several fields as a result of strong winds. Stem weakness in some fields due to mycosphaerella blight has also been reported in the Manitoba pulse and soybean growers blog.

• Crop Extension Specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture, Meghan Rosso, told Discover Weyburn on August 9 that low rainfall and heat in Saskatchewan  "continues to be the main cause of crop damage" and that "wind, aphids, and grasshoppers” have also caused crop damage. 
  

USA

• Minnesota saw below average temperatures for the week ending August 11, slowing crop development, according to the USDA. Dry beans in the state are at 88% blooming and 66% setting pods. In terms of conditions, the dry edible bean crop rose, hitting 72% good-excellent.

• Replanted dry bean crops in Nebraska may require a lengthened irrigation period this year despite recent rains giving relief from the heat and low moisture.

• “Our typical cut-off for water deliveries is the first week of September, but with some of the bean crop behind with the replant. We might run a bit longer to meet their demands,” Rick Miller, Pathfinder Irrigation District General Manager, told Chadron Radio this week.