September 15, 2010

UK wheat face more damage from dry springs

The dry spring has proved more of a curse to English wheat than the summer rains which have left some wheat still awaiting harvest, a survey of growers has revealed.

A timely start to harvesting ensured many crops were safely in silos before the rains which held up combines and have seen "more variability in quality" in crops reaped over the last month.

Overall, the quality of the crop is reported as good, with high protein levels and good specification achieved by growers across the country, Ian Backhouse, the NFU chairman of combinable crops, said.

Heavy investment in drying equipment had saved crops harvested with a high moisture content from deterioration in the silo.

However, on quantity, the crop looked like falling short of earlier hopes, coming in only marginally higher than last year's 13.4 million tonnes, on official data, despite sowings 5.8% higher at 1.8 million hectares.

The NFU said average yields are showing a reduction, adding that the harvest looked set to fall some 400,000 tonnes below the five-year average.

The shortfall was blamed on the early dryness which made the first half of 2010 the driest in 80 years, and also raised fears over crops in France, the European Union's top producer, and second-ranked Germany.

England accounts for the bulk of output in the UK, the EU's fourth biggest wheat grower.

Meanwhile, farmers had reported a relatively large variability in yields often linked to soil type and capacity to hold water. The report follows expectations of a large downgrade in many European crops which drove Paris milling wheat to a steep premium over feed wheat traded in London-an advantage that has eroded this month.

London wheat for November closed up 0.5% at GBP162.50 a tonne on Tuesday, while its Paris peer ended 0.5% lower at EUR230.75 a tonne.