EU-COM estimates grain harvest 2023 just below the 10-year average, but 8.4% above previous year In its spring edition, the EU Commission (EU-KOM) estimates the grain harvest at around 290 million t (previous year 268 million t). The result comes from a slight increase in the cultivation area, but significantly higher yield expectations of 56 dt/ha (previous year 52 dt/ha). The harvests are very different in the individual Member States. Above-average increases are expected in Hungary with an increase of around 70% or around 6 million t after the catastrophic result of the previous year. Similar forecasts are made in Romania with an increase of around 33% or also 6 million t. +11% is also forecast for Bulgaria . The weather conditions in south-eastern Europe have so far been very promising. Despite a drought in the south of the country, a harvest increase of around 15% is expected in Spain compared to the weak previous year. Under similar conditions, +11% more is expected in Italy .In contrast, strong discounts of -8.6% are being made in the Netherlands after the excellent result of the previous year. In France , the largest production region in the EU, a harvest increase of only around 4% to 62.7 million tonnes is expected. The drought in the southern growing areas has a negative effect on the overall result. The EU-wide domestic consumption of grain is estimated at only 254 million t compared to the multi-year average of around 260 million t due to the reduced animal stocks. The reduced domestic demand from the animal sector also reduced imports to 26 million t (previous year 35 million t). In contrast, the EU COM expects exports of almost 48 million t (previous year 44 million t). At the end of the year, the grain balance shows a final stock that is 10 million t higher at 58.8 million t. The degree of self-sufficiency in the EU grain industry has risen from 105% in the previous year to 113%.
