Strategie Grains cuts EU wheat crop forecast as harvesting starts

Strategie Grains lowered its monthly forecast for this year’s soft wheat crop in the European Union, confirming its expectation for a four-year low in production as harvesting gets under way. The consultancy now sees 2024/25 soft wheat production in the 27-country bloc at 121.8 million metric tons, 1.7 million tons less than it projected in May. The consultancy’s latest projection is 3.6% below last year’s output and would be the lowest since 2020/21 when the crop was also affected by heavy rain during the growing season. In a summary of its monthly cereal report, Strategie Grains did not give reasons for its downward revision to the forecast, but said it anticipated France would see the biggest year-on-year decline in production followed by Germany, Poland and Hungary to a lesser extent. In France, the EU’s top grain producer, torrential rain cut soft wheat sowing by more than 7%. The consultancy also lowered its outlook for this year’s EU barley crop to 52.2 million tons from ...