The early signs from New Zealand are that milk production is on an upward curve once more. New Zealand milk production for the month of August stood at 1.3bn litres, almost 5% ahead of last year. September to January are the peak production months for New Zealand farmers.

Russia’s annual wheat harvest is running well behind last year, with yields also back. At the end of last week, Russia had harvested 65m tonnes of wheat, with average yields reported at 3t/ha. By the same week last year, Russia had harvested 81m tonnes of wheat, with yields close to 3.4t/ha.

Twenty-six beef processing plants in Argentina have now been granted licences to export beef to China, according to the ministry for agribusiness, following a recent trade mission to China. China buys 55% of all Argentina’s beef exports, giving Argentina a 20% share of China’s beef import market.

US milk production for August stood at 8bn litres, according to the USDA, which is 1.4% ahead of the same month last year. For the first eight months of 2018 (Jan-Aug), US milk production stood at 64.3bn litres and is running at 1.1% ahead of last year.