The beautiful autumn weather in most of Europe allowed for good progress in winter sowing and early crop development, but low rainfall in Central and Eastern Europe is a cause for concern, EU plant monitoring service MARS said yesterday.
The vegetation conditions for the next harvest are being closely monitored as grain and oilseed prices are currently breaking records due to concerns about global supplies.
Winter grain sowing has ended on time in most parts of central and northern Europe and is currently progressing well in the south as well, MARS said in its latest report. There it says that the weather conditions were favorable for an early development.
Agricultural bureau FranceAgriMer said last week that sowing common wheat and winter barley for next year's harvest in France is nearing the end, with the bureau pointing to very good growing conditions.
However, dry weather in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Ukraine and northern Romania led to delays in winter wheat sowing and harvesting, reports MARS.
High levels of precipitation in central and southern Italy and in large parts of the Balkans region did not affect the sowing of winter crops, except in Croatia, where emergence was slightly delayed.
The rapeseed fields are in good condition before winter, according to the monthly report, because in most growing areas the sowing was completed in the optimal time window and under generally favorable conditions.
In most regions, adequate temperatures and soil moisture aided the emergence and early development of the rapeseed.
Because of the current high prices, farmers in almost all EU countries have expanded the sowing of oil plants.
Rapeseed is the most widely produced oilseed in the EU and is used for cooking oil, animal feed and biodiesel.
Source
Hansa Terminhandel GmbH