Premium wheat shows clear price advantage, sowing area increases
Winter wheat sowing in main producing areas basically finished
Recently, reporters conducted a survey of winter wheat sowing in Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other provinces. As of now, winter wheat planting in the main producing areas is nearing completion, with Henan and other provinces having finished sowing.
Based on analysis of the varieties and areas of winter wheat already sown in the main producing areas, this year's winter wheat sowing in the main producing areas has shown characteristics different from previous years. Because the price difference between premium wheat and ordinary wheat has been relatively large in the past two years, many farmers in many regions, especially large grain growers, chose to sow premium wheat.
Reporters learned from the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture and other departments that this year Henan Province's winter wheat sowing area is around 80 million mu, and the total sown area is expected to be slightly higher than last year. The area that has currently emerged is 66.47 million mu. During the wheat sowing period, the province's weather conditions were relatively good. A rainfall process that occurred across the province not only alleviated the drought and replenished soil moisture, but also created conditions for the smooth emergence of wheat. Because the province's winter wheat sowing period was concentrated, most of the wheat sowing work was completed within the suitable sowing period, which made the emerged wheat in the province generally relatively neat and uniform.
"The sowing area of the premium wheat variety - Xinmai 26 - increased significantly. For example, many farmers in Yanjin County, Huixian County and other places chose to plant Xinmai 26." Yu Chunwei, an agricultural materials and seed dealer in Yanjin County, told reporters that during the wheat sowing period, sales of premium wheat seeds such as Xinmai 26 were very large. The main reason is that in recent years the market price of premium wheat has been significantly higher than that of ordinary wheat, which has increased farmers' enthusiasm for planting premium wheat. At present, the ex-warehouse price of Xinmai 26 in northern Henan Province is 2850-2920 yuan/ton, and the ex-warehouse price of ordinary wheat is 2360-2460 yuan/ton.
"At present, winter wheat sowing in Shandong Province is being wrapped up. Due to insufficient soil moisture, farmers in many areas are watering the soil to plant wheat. Recently, rainy weather appeared in some areas of Shandong Province. Although the rainfall was not too heavy, it alleviated the drought and was beneficial to winter wheat emergence." Wang Yingzhong, business director of the First Grain Depot in Jining, told reporters that Shandong Province's winter wheat sowing area is flat or slightly increased compared with last year. During the wheat sowing period, although relevant departments did not vigorously guide farmers to plant premium wheat, large land transfer operators still introduced and planted large areas of premium wheat on their own, mainly considering the relatively high returns.
During the interviews, reporters learned that in order to adjust the agricultural planting structure and address the problem of groundwater overexploitation, this year Hebei Province's winter wheat sowing area is flat or slightly reduced compared with last year. This year Hebei Province's winter wheat sowing area is around 34 million mu. However, in order to stabilize and improve wheat production capacity, the Hebei provincial government will continue to arrange funds this year to support deep loosening operations by agricultural machinery, and the subsidy standard has also been raised. This is conducive to increasing the per-unit yield of winter wheat, and Hebei Province's total wheat output will not be affected by a possible reduction in area.
"Winter wheat sowing in Hubei, Anhui and other provinces is progressing smoothly, and the sown area is estimated to remain stable with an increase." According to Liu Shuwei, a grain and oil trader in Jingzhou, because this year's rapeseed purchase price was too low, and the returns from planting cotton were also unsatisfactory, many farmers in Hubei and Anhui changed rapeseed fields and cotton fields to wheat. It is understood that soil moisture in Hubei and other southern regions is relatively good, and winter wheat sowing is progressing smoothly.