Last week’s weather featured low night temperatures (down to -15 degrees C) early in the week with adequate snow cover (up to 10-23 cm), a sharp brief (2 days) rise in average daily temperatures to +5 C in the south with full snow melting, their sharp drop to 2-5 C below zero on December 11-13, with simultaneous formation of up to 4-23 cm-high snow cover.
As of December 15, the soil had frozen to a depth of 14-19 cm in the south, with a temperature of -3.6-4.7 C near the tillering node. The respective values for the rest of Ukraine are 4-7 cm and 0 to -1 C in the north, 10-13 cm and -2-5 C in the west; 5-15 cm and -1-4 C in the east.
Winter rape plants accumulated 31-40% of sugars prior to entering the dormancy period – this is enough for their good winter survival. Overall, Ukrainian winter crops are in a much better condition than last year. (UkrAgroConsult/Business World Magazine)
