Area of winter cereals and beets in Belgium decreased

The decrease in winter cereals, with the exception of winter barley, can be attributed to the wet autumn in 2021. The increase in the area of winter barley largely compensated for the decrease in other winter cereals, Statbel reports. The sowing date of winter barley is slightly earlier than that of other winter cereals. The Belgians sowed 1,031 hectares less winter cereals in 2021 than the year before. That means a decrease of 0.4 percent. The surface area of spring wheat, spring barley and grain maize in Belgium increased by no less than 38.8 percent in 2022 due to the rise in grain prices due to the war in Ukraine. In concrete terms, this is a growth of 20,773 hectares. Decrease in sugar beet acreage The sugar beet acreage fell again in 2022, by 3.2 percent. This is a contraction of 1,764 hectares. The decrease in area is largely compensated by the ...