Tropical storm Bill could delay the US winter wheat harvest and deteriorate the plant quality further

In stark contrast to Germany, the US agricultural sector is battling with heavy rainfall. Although wind speeds fall quickly once a storm has made landfall and now total only between 40 km/h and 60 km/h, the tropical storm brings enormous quantities of water with it which can lead to torrential downpours and flooding. 

"The heavy rainfall could prevent the already soaked fields from drying out, delay the winter wheat harvest and cause further deterioration of crop quality. This makes the US Department of Agriculture's optimistic estimate for the winter wheat crop appear less and less realistic", anticipates Commerzbank.