NORTH AMERICA: Planting of the 2005 winter wheat crop is progressing on schedule in the United States and plants are emerging well under generally favourable conditions. The maize harvest is well underway and a record output of 295 million tonnes is forecast. In Canada, predominantly cool and wet conditions during the 2004 growing season have resulted in slow crop development, a later than normal harvest and poorer quality crops. Nevertheless, output of wheat could still be up from the previous year when drought affected yields in parts.