The now warm and dry weather favors the development of the grain harvest in the European Union. This is reported today by the French agricultural market specialist Strategy Grains. Field crops suffered for a long time in cold and wet conditions this year; But now also the sowing of corn gets going.
Late cold spells and heavy rains raised fears that the harvest would be damaged in parts of the EU, such as France and the Baltic states. But only a few losses were reported, according to the monthly report published today.
At the beginning of April, the spring weather in the EU started to rise with noticeably rising temperatures. Now the growth conditions are good in almost all regions in Europe.
The wet conditions during the winter months allowed for less severe rooting, which should be noticeable if it gets too dry in warm conditions.
The cool, wet weather in the last two months has also caused less summer barley to be sown in the UK and France than planned. Now the maize sowing benefits from the mild weather conditions.
Grain's strategy made only minor changes in its estimate of the EU grain harvest in 2018. The soft wheat yield is now estimated at 141 million tonnes; 100,000 tonnes less than expected in March and 1% less harvested than last year.
The estimate for barley production is also slightly reduced, namely by 200,000 tonnes to 61.8 million tonnes. By contrast, the corn harvest is expected to be 200,000 tonnes higher, bringing it to 60.7 million tonnes.
Text: HANSA Derivatives Trading GmbH /
