Czech and Slovakian grain farmers' losses build up amid flood

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have added a further US$135 million to the estimate of Europe's losses to the floods which cost 1.5 million tonnes of grain.

One-in-seven farms in Slovokia was damaged by the flooding which followed heavy rains in May and June, with nearly 300,000 hectares of cropland affected. Grains were particularly seriously affected, with losses of 59,000 hectares of wheat, while many farmers also lost buildings and machinery to the deluge.

In the neighbouring Czech Republic, flooding has widened to 10-15% the decline expected in the grains harvest this year, despite the survival of 90% of winter crops.

USDA officials in Prague said spring crops suffered from the cold and rainy weather that followed sowing, adding that some vegetables could not be sown due to the floods or soil being too wet which did not allow machinery to enter the fields.

Officials also said that the floods also caused insufficient fertilising and spraying of crops which will lead, along with increased humidity, to larger fungi infections and other diseases. Yields of spring grains, mainly malting barley, are expected to stay below average.

However, overall a far smaller proportion of Czech farms were hit than in Slovakia, and the country is still expected to be able to export some 1.5-1.7 million tonnes of grains.

The rapeseed harvest is expected to come in at 1.1 million tonnes, not far below last year's, despite weather losses.