Germany's wheat harvest in 2023 will fall 2.9% year-on-year to 21.87 million tonnes due to dry and hot weather, the country's association of agricultural cooperatives said.
The association forecasts that Germany's 2023 winter rapeseed crop will decline by 3.1% to 4.14 million tonnes. This is down from the May forecast, when the wheat crop was estimated at 22.31 million tonnes and the winter canola crop at 4.28 million tonnes.
Germany's weather turned hot and dry after a rainy spring until mid-May, cereal expert Guido Seidler said. "The weather has completely changed in the last four weeks. In mid-May, some fields were too wet for agricultural machinery to enter, and now plants are suffering from enormous stress and lack of moisture all over Germany."
"In areas with good, heavy soils, crop losses will be minor, although more rain is needed," the association said in a statement. "But in regions with light sandy soils that do not retain water, losses can no longer be prevented. The worst situation remains in East Germany."
Germany is the second largest producer of wheat in the European Union after France and has for many years been the largest producer of rapeseed in the EU - Europe's main raw material for the production of oil and biodiesel.
Germany's winter barley harvest, used mainly for feed, will decline by 1.4% year-on-year to 9.09 million tonnes, the association said. The harvest of spring barley, often used to make beer and malt, will fall 11.6% to 1.74 million tonnes.
The maize harvest will also be smaller, with the decline expected to be around 2.5% to 3.73 million tonnes, according to estimates.
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