Large areas of EU winter grain in mediocre condition, monitor says

Grains, Cereal & Legumes

Sustainability & Environmental Impact

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 28, 2024

Tridge summary

The EU's crop monitoring service, MARS, has reported that winter grain crops in the European Union are currently in poor condition due to overly wet conditions since the autumn, which have hindered sowing, emergence, and development of the crops. Additionally, severe frost damage has been reported in northern and eastern Europe. The most severely affected fields may need to be resown with spring or summer crops, although ongoing wet weather, particularly in France, the EU's largest grain producer, complicates these efforts. Drought conditions in eastern Romania and Bulgaria are adversely affecting winter rapeseed. MARS's initial yield forecasts for 2024 anticipate a slight increase in yields for soft and durum wheat, a decrease for winter barley, and an increase for rapeseed yield.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Winter grain crops are in mediocre condition in large parts of the European Union despite fair spring weather, EU crop monitoring service MARS said. “Since autumn, large parts of western, northern and eastern Europe experienced excessively wet conditions, which negatively affected the sowing, emergence and development of winter crops,” MARS said in a monthly report. In northern and eastern Europe, additional damage to crops was caused by severe frost, it said. In the north, the most severely affected fields are expected to be resown with spring or summer crops. However, wet weather and waterlogged fields created challenging conditions for the resowing of spring crops, notably in France, the EU’s largest grain grower, it said. Farm office FranceAgriMer on Friday said the state of soft wheat crops remained at a four-year low last week, though traders said that warm, sunny weather this week should help crops after damp conditions since planting. In eastern Romania and eastern ...

Source: Hellenic Shipping News