The European Union’s winter grain crops are reported to be in mediocre condition across significant regions, despite favorable spring weather, according to the EU crop monitoring service MARS in a recent update on Monday. The report highlighted that extensive areas in western, northern, and eastern Europe have been adversely impacted by excessively wet conditions since autumn, affecting the sowing, emergence, and development of winter crops.
Additional damage to crops in northern and eastern Europe was attributed to severe frost events. In severely affected areas, plans are underway to replant fields with spring or summer crops. However, the resowing process faces challenges due to persistently wet weather and waterlogged fields, particularly notable in France, the EU’s largest grain producer. Concerns were raised about the condition of soft wheat crops in France, which remained at a four-year low, although improved weather conditions were expected to benefit crop development following damp planting conditions.
In eastern Romania and Bulgaria, winter crops are suffering from insufficient rainfall, particularly impacting winter rapeseed yields. MARS’ initial yield forecasts for 2024 projected a 2% increase in average soft wheat yield to 5.91 metric tons per hectare (t/ha) compared to 2023, while durum wheat yield is forecasted to rise by 5% to 3.44 t/ha. Conversely, the winter barley yield is anticipated to decrease by 2% to 5.95 t/ha. For oilseeds, MARS predicted a 2% increase in average rapeseed yield to 3.25 t/ha for the year.