April 19, 2010

 

EU wheat crop seen positive despite delays

 

 

Grain crops in western Europe are slightly behind schedule after a cold winter but the outlook remains favourable for wheat.

 

"This development lag is not an overwhelming problem at this stage of the crop year," according to analysts, stressing that good weather later in the season could compensate for the delay.

 

It put the total 2010 soft wheat crop in France at 36.9 million tonnes, slightly above last year's 36.2 million. Traders also played down the delay in winter crops' growth.

 

German grain plantings had come through the winter with no significant frost damage and spring plantings were progressing well in good weather.

 

Germany's farm cooperatives association forecasts the country's key 2010 winter wheat harvest will fall 1.3% on the year to 24.59 million tonnes.

 

The winter wheat area rose 2.7% on the year to 3.26 million hectares but wet March weather meant farmers were unable to spread fertilisers, which was likely to cut yields.

 

April weather has been highly favourable and some observers were expecting the wheat harvest to be unchanged on the year.

 

Wheat crops in Britain have also emerged from the winter in generally good shape with cold weather helping protect crops from the threat of disease, said Guy Gagen, chief arable adviser to Britain's National Farmers Union.

 

Britain's farm ministry estimated last month that the UK wheat area for the 2010 harvest increased by 11.4% from the prior season to 1.94 million hectares.

 

Farmers in France, Germany and Britain have, however, reduced plantings of lower value feed grains as the EU partially removes the safety net of intervention from the summer 2010 crops.

 

Spanish plantings of winter grains - mainly wheat and barley - have dipped by 0.8% from last year, according to the latest official data, but farmers are cautiously optimistic yields can improve.

 

Farmers, however say this summer's harvest may recover from last year's failed crop because an unusually wet winter has allowed soil to recover from a long drought in 2009, and they used more fertiliser, which had come down in price.