It seems the age-old saying of "one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity" is playing out in Australia's grain sector this season.
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The Northern Hemisphere has experienced a record-breaking summer - from drought and severe heat in the northern areas of the United States and Canada, to catastrophic flooding throughout parts of Europe.
We certainly don't wish these conditions on anyone, and our hearts go out to our friends in these regions.
But reduced Northern Hemisphere production forecasts, and ever-improving conditions in Australia, appear to be providing a catalyst for a huge windfall for Australia's farmers.
This is welcome, coming not long after we battled three years of crippling drought here.
The persistent dry conditions across North America are the reason Australia's high-protein wheat and canola prices continue to climb each week.
And, in more recent weeks, the talk about Russian production might also benefit us in Australia - providing another possible leg-up over our Northern Hemisphere counterparts.
Although nothing has been confirmed, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expected to update the market next Thursday and many analysts are expecting the Russian crop to come in well below 80 million tonnes.
That would be a far cry from the 85 million tonnes the USDA had pegged in its last official update.
The primary reason for the reduction was an update last week from Russia's statistical agency, Rosstat, regarding the winter wheat area.
Despite the mild winter, this crop area forecast was reduced to 15.6 million hectares - primarily due to winterkill events earlier in the season.
Back in Australia, the winter crop has continued to improve in the past fortnight.
In New South Wales, persistent sunshine - or, for some regions, the disappearance of weekly rain events - was the missing ingredient that has allowed crops to start growing again.
There is abundant soil moisture, and plant populations are on target to provide a bumper harvest.
When the ground has dried out - which should be this week for most - farmers will get to work spraying herbicides and fungicides before full row closure. They will also top-dress areas that have been far too wet to this point of the season.
If we can achieve this mammoth task before the next rainfall, it would put Australia - and in particular NSW - in the box-seat for back-to-back huge crops.
Most farmers would have made some forward sales on canola on the back of the high prices on offer to date.
But wheat and barley have remained as the proverbial poor cousin, with a lack of forward commitments until the past fortnight.
Cash prices have consistently held above $320 per tonne, Newcastle port equivalent, and it seems many growers are happy to start selling at these levels while the sunshine beams down on their ever-impressive crops.
The question remains about whether the Russian production hiccups will provide Australia with another boost prior to harvest. Or, have these already been priced in?
We will certainly find out when the USDA releases its update next week. Stay tuned.
