Climate action scholarships
Farmers for Climate Action has selected 20 Australian farmers for a climate-smart farming scholarship valued at more than $3000.
The successful applicants were chosen from a field of 200 farmers, with Farmers for Climate Action saying it received record numbers of applications.
Farmers for Climate Action outreach coordinator Ellen Litchfield said she had been "blown away" by the interest from farmers keen to learn about building resilience and reducing their carbon footprints.
"Farmers are on the front lines of climate impacts, including drought, bushfires and recent floods. They are ready to act to protect their farms for the future and they are keen to learn more," Ms Litchfield said.
With the program running until March, scholars will gain the knowledge needed to succeed in a changing climate, enabling them to become leaders in climate-smart agriculture and increasing the resilience of their farms.
Ukraine calls for quicker inspection times
The Ukrainian government says quicker grain ship inspections will be the major driver of increasing its grain exports rather than opening extra ports.
Reuters reported that slow inspection times in the Straits of Bosphorus, where ships have to be inspected as part of the deal with Russia to allow safe passage of grain through the Black Sea, are causing significant delays.
Big December for Viterra
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN bulk handler Viterra has reported its biggest December on record.
Over 5.2 million tonnes was taken for December as part of overall receivals of 6.9m tonnes.
Viterra said it had received 1.7m tonnes in the last two weeks of December when harvest is traditionally winding down, the legacy of the late start to the harvest period.
Viterra general manager of operations, Gavin Cavanagh said the company had recorded one of its largest single day receivals on December 19.
"On Monday 19 December 260,000 tonnes we received into our network, our largest day this harvest and also since the 2017/18 season," Mr Cavanagh said.
A number of sites also broke their season records, such as Bute on the Yorke Peninsula and Lock on the Eyre Peninsula.
Daily records were broken at Crystal Brook in the Mid North, Wolseley, east of Bordertown and Tailem Bend near Murray Bridge.
Ukraine crop down
UKRAINE'S grain production figures are well down year on year as the conflict with Russia continues to take its toll.
According to Reuters Ukrainian farmers have harvested 49.5 million tonnes of grain from 10.7 million hectares of crops.
This is down from Ukraine's record harvest of 81m tonnes.
Lower plantings because of the conflict and lower yields due to a lack of access to crop inputs are the major cause.
US rain
THERE has been useful rainfall in the US wheat belt, improving crop prospects, although conditions are still very dry in some winter wheat regions.
In its most recent update the US Department of Agriculture estimated 64 per cent of the nation's winter wheat production was within areas experiencing drought, down from 69pc in its December 27 analysis.
Rain fell primarily in the south of the US soft winter wheat region, which is largely to the south and west of the corn belt in the Midwest.
Conditions have improved in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky, but remain very dry in significant portions of Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Hard red winter wheat production areas of the US Plains, to the west of the soft winter wheat area, were in far worse shape than soft wheat areas.
The most extensive moisture shortage was seen in the top hard red winter wheat production state of Kansas, where three quarters of the state is in extreme or exceptional drought.
This severe drought extends south into Oklahoma and west into Nebraska.