MARS: significant yield losses for maize and sunflowers
In the latest Sep. 24 issue, the EU Commission's Agrometeorological Institute (MARS) expects significant yield losses in the major European maize-growing regions based on the evaluation of climate data.
For the EU as a whole, MARS has calculated a 9% drop in yields to just 6.84 tons per hectare of maize.
The EU countries in south-eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria (-24%), Hungary (-25%), Romania (-29%) and Slovakia (-11%), were the hardest hit compared to the previous year. The main reason for this is the persistent rainfall deficit combined with regional heatwaves.
The Netherlands, Belgium, France and northern Italy must also expect a reduction in yields this year.
Recently, the storm "Boris" caused floods in certain regions of Austria, the Czech Republic, southern Poland and neighboring areas, causing as yet unmanageable damage.
Significant crop losses can also be deduced from the climate data for southern Russia and Ukraine. The maize harvest in Ukraine has been particularly badly affected.
The maize harvests that are still in progress are still good for a few surprises.
MARS is also forecasting a sharp drop in production of -8% for the sunflower harvest. High crop losses have been recorded in the main EU growing regions of Romania (-6%), Bulgaria (-11%), Hungary (-11%), Slovakia (-5%) and Austria (-9%). A yield loss of -9% is expected at the few German locations.
However, significant yield losses are also foreseeable in Ukraine and southern Russia.
