TOTAL CEREAL PRODUCTION LOWER THAN FIVE‑YEAR AVERAGE FOR EU-27 BUT GOOD PROSPECTS FOR SUMMER CROPS
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The last dekad of July and the first dekad of August continued to be
cooler than average in western and central Europe. Most of the European
countries (France, Benelux, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the
Baltic States, Ukraine and Romania) showed average temperature accumulation
in August. As very high temperatures persisted in the Mediterranean
region and around the Adriatic Sea from mid‑August onwards,
the sum of active temperatures was above the long‑term average (LTA)
in Italy and Slovenia, on the Dalmatian coast and in Austria, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and eastern Spain (by >10 %). Summer continued into
September, pushing accumulated temperatures well above the average
in Italy and the Balkans, with maximum temperatures above 30 degrees.
Towards the end of July and until the beginning of August rain fell
predominantly in central Europe. In the major agricultural areas these
weather conditions increased soil moisture and created a large surplus
in the climatic water balance. Rain continued to be plentiful in areas
around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, moving accumulated values
into surplus for the month of August. Access to fields for harvesting was
hampered and held up by spells of abundant precipitation. Scarce precipitation
was recorded around the Mediterranean Sea, in the Black Sea
region and the area between the Black Sea and the Adriatic, where the
weather favoured harvesting activities.
Total wheat production is estimated at 135.36 Mt, less than in 2010
(-2.9 %) but still 0.5 % higher than the five‑year average. The fall in production
since the last forecast in August is -0.8 %, reflecting mainly the
reduced acreage since the last report (-0.8 %).
Total barley production is also down since the last forecast by -3.4 % and
is now estimated at 51.88 Mt (-2.8 % vs 2010 and -11.6 % vs the five‑year
average). This is the result of the acreage reduction (mainly for winter
barley: -7.9 % vs 2010, spring barley being stable at +0.3 %).
The grain maize yield forecast at EU-27 level has been revised downwards
since the end of August by -0.4 %. Production is estimated at
61.20 Mt, which is still +5.3 % higher than in 2010.
For summer crops, production is estimated to be higher than in 2010
for sugar beet, potato and sunflower. The yield forecasts for those three
crops are higher than in 2010 and even much higher than the five‑year
average.
EL AYDAM Mohamed;
BARUTH Bettina;
BETTIO Manola;
BUSSAY Attila;
KASPERSKA-WOLOWICZ Wieslawa Maria;
BOJANOWSKI Jedrzej;
SEGUINI Lorenzo;
LOPEZ LOZANO Raul;
DUVEILLER BOGDAN Grégory Henry E;
ROSENMUND Alexandra;
NIEMEYER Stefan;
EL AYDAM Mohamed;
BARUTH Bettina;
BETTIO Manola;
2011-11-08
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC66632
1831-9793,
EUR 24736 EN,
OP LB-AM-11-016-EN-C,
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/mars,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC66632,
