No substantial weather damage to EU cereal crops: MARS

Unusual weather patterns have not been enough to cause serious damage to the EU’s crops, with above-average yields forecast by the European Commission’s crop monitoring outfit MARS in its monthly report published Monday.

In its first yield estimates of the 2017/18 marketing year, MARS said wheat is expected to come in at 5.94 mt per hectare, up 1.5% on the 2016/17 marketing year and 3.7% on the average of the past five marketing year.

Soft wheat yields are set to come in at 6.2 mt/ha, up 1.4% on last year and 3.8% on the five-year average, while winter barley is set to see 6.05 mt/ha, up 1% year-on-year and 4.4% on the five-year average.

France, the bloc’s biggest wheat producer, was identified as being of concern as wet weather caused waterlogging in the wheat belt across the north of the country, but damage was only said to be minor.

Elsewhere in the EU, crops were identified as being in a satisfactory condition despite a cold snap towards the tail end of winter.

Major wheat exporters such as France, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria were all identified as having year-on-year yield increases, while Germany, Lithuania, and Latvia are all set for below-average production.

Looking beyond the EU, MARS identified “beneficial weather conditions for winter crops so far” for Ukraine’s crops, while Russian crops are benefitting from “one of the warmest seen in the last 40 years.”