August 5, 2004

German 2004-05 Grain Harvest Advancing Rapidly, Good Quality
 
The German 2004-05 grain harvest has been advancing rapidly due to the recent warm and sunny weather with yields and quality for barley, rye, rapeseed and early wheat cuts above average, the German farmers' association DBV said in its second harvest report Wednesday.
 
After a delay of two weeks to the grain harvest due to adverse weather, analyses have defied concerns particularly for wheat quality so far, which have shown high quality for baking, the DBV said.
 
However, the soft wheat harvest has so far been confined to areas in the south, with around 50% of wheat area in the land Rhineland-Palatinate harvested, posting yields of up to eight metric tons per hectare, up from an average yield of 6.5 tons/ha during the 2003-04 campaign.
 
Winter barley has been harvested on around 95% of area planted, which rose this year by 4.1% to 1.37 million ha. Yields are on a good level ranging between 3.9 tons/ha on light soils in Brandenburg and up to eight tons/ha on heavier soils in Schleswig-Holstein, the DBV said.
 
Spring barley has also shown good quality, while yields ranged between 4.5 tons/ha to six tons/ha.
 
The rye harvest will produce enough good quality rye this year to satisfy millers' needs, with Hagberg falling numbers ranging between 120 to 200.