August 5, 2010

EU grain harvest to remain stable despite flood and drought

Grain harvest in the EU are set to remain stable this year and crop yields are likely to rise despite droughts and flooding affecting many parts of Europe, according to experts in Brussels.

The first half of 2010 saw weather turmoil, with blizzards, floods and droughts spreading across Europe. However, European Commission experts said that that bad weather was matched by unusually good weather in other areas, meaning that overall production should not suffer.

The tonnage of cereal produced per hectare this year is likely to be 5% above the five-year average, and 0.7% above last year's figure, experts in the EU executive predicted.

However, the amount of land used for cereal cultivation fell by 3% compared with 2009, meaning that total output should be on roughly the same level as last year, the forecasts said.

It is predicted that Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria should all enjoy bumper wheat and barley harvests, with only drought-stricken Greece and Portugal seeing below-average yields.

However, experts stressed that their forecasts were based on data gathered before July 10, and that later droughts and floods could therefore change that picture.

"The problem with agricultural forecasts is the weather, because we don't know what's going to happen," commission agriculture spokesman Roger Waite said.

The commission report did not attempt to predict how the likely crop yields would affect grain prices.