China’s wheat farmers reel from heavy rains, crop loss

STORY: Staring out at his sodden land, this Chinese farmer says his battered wheat is not even worth harvesting anymore.

He's one of many farmers now struggling in the country's central Henan province after weeks of heavy rains.

"The wheat harvest - the weather is not giving us a good harvest! Farmers are working very hard this year, all the wheat crops have sprouted. People are also very anxious."

Henan produces around a third of the country’s wheat.

The unusually heavy rains are causing the wheat to sprout early, often producing lower quality flour unfit for humans.

At the same time, the rains are delaying the harvest.

Compared with 90% this time last year, state media reported only three-quarters of Henan's crop had been harvested.

According to farmer Chen, there’s also a shortage of machinery needed for the harvest.

"We have harvesters with caterpillar treads, but there are not many around. And because it is such a big area here, it's not possible to harvest everything. The main reason for this is that the weather is bad, and even after using those harvesters, wheat crops will not dry out completely, it will inevitably be rotten. We might as well not harvest at all."

The rains have also impacted neighboring provinces like Anhui, Shanxi and Shandong.

The government has urged quote "extraordinary measures” to address the crisis, and has ordered state grain buyers to purchase lower quality wheat at above-market prices.

"Imports of wheat into China are already going up…"

To make up for the loss, Darin Friedrichs of a consulting firm based in Shanghai says China, the world’s largest wheat consumer, may have to bump up grain imports.

“…so that would obviously have an impact on global prices and an impact on global markets."

That potential bump in China’s wheat import would come as the El Nino weather pattern is set to sharply reduce wheat output this year in Australia, another major producer…

…and as the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to curb Australia’s grain exports.