MARS Dec. 2024: Winter crops in Europe in average to good condition
After evaluating the climate data from Sep. to the end of Nov. 2024, the Agricultural Meteorological Institute of the EU Commission (MARS) has come to the conclusion that winter crops in most parts of Europe are in just average to good condition. In some areas of Europe, there was considerable precipitation during the reporting period, but this did not have a negative impact on crop development. However, there are clear regional differences.
Spain: After a very rainy September and October, above-average temperatures in November created favorable conditions for an extended sowing window and enabled farmers to make rapid progress with cultivation. However, in north-eastern Spain, particularly in Aragón, some fields that were too wet could not be sown in time. Farmers there are planning to sow more precocious crop varieties in December and January.
In northern Italy, too, sufficiently dry conditions favored the sowing and initial development of winter cereals. In Sicily, rainfall in the reporting period was just sufficient to allow durum wheat to be sown.
In Western Europe, weather conditions were sufficient to complete the sowing of winter cereals; despite delays, overall conditions are positive. In Central and Northern Europe, where sowing was completed earlier, comparatively mild cold spells had no negative impact and soil water reserves remained well above the critical level.
In parts of Romania and Bulgaria as well as in eastern Ukraine and large parts of European Russia, stocks are still underdeveloped.
In many parts of Europe, the development of cold tolerance to withstand frost conditions during winter dormancy is somewhat delayed in plants sown at the usual time. This is most clearly the case in Poland and the Baltic countries.
However, the frost susceptibility of winter crops is of particular concern in eastern Ukraine and the European part of Russia, as well as in south-central Romania and north-eastern Bulgaria, where the sowing and initial development of winter wheat has been seriously hampered due to very dry topsoils, resulting in crops that are currently underdeveloped and in poor condition.
In Morocco and western Algeria, there is an urgent need for rain to create suitable conditions for sowing; however, the situation remains delicate as the subsoils are still very dry. Both countries are dependent on high grain imports.
