Rain is needed in many parts of western Europe to prevent damage to wheat crops now running several weeks ahead of schedule due to mild winter conditions and sunny weather in recent weeks, analysts and traders said. The region joins a list of wheat belts including the US Plains, Australia and parts of the Black Sea, where dry weather is being monitored for potential harm to crops.
In France, the European Union's largest grain producer and exporter, the rapid growth was starting to raise concerns plants may not be strong enough to resist late frost or drought. "It is going too fast," a French trader said. Forecaster Meteo France said rainfall in March was on average 35 percent below normal, while temperatures were 1.1 degrees Celsius above normal. Farm office FranceAgriMer last week said winter cereals in France remained mostly in good condition but far ahead of schedule as 73 percent of crops had reached the 1-cm ear stage against just 9 percent a year earlier. In Germany, the bloc's second-largest wheat grower, crops came through the winter without significant frost damage and are up to four weeks ahead of normal growth in much of the country, but now urgently need rain, analysts said.
"At this stage of strong vertical wheat growth, rain is urgently needed. I do not think there is concern about dryness damage yet but I would be glad if rain fell today rather than tomorrow," one analyst said. Lack of rain also means vessels on the Rhine and Danube rivers are unable to take on full loads because of shallow water. Germany should harvest 24.6 million tonnes of wheat of all types in 2014, down 1.8 percent on the year, German Farm Co-operatives Association said mid-March. The US national weather service forecasts precipitation levels to remain below normal in all of Western Europe until at least April 11.
GOOD CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN Similar conditions were seen in Poland where crops were doing well and were about two weeks ahead of last year after a mild winter but concern was growing about dry weather. "Rain is urgently needed, especially in the western regions," Wojtek Sabaranski of analysts Sparks Polska said. Frost in parts of Poland in the past week also caused concern because of the advanced growth, Sabaranski said.
The analyst forecasts Poland's wheat plantings of spring and winter wheat for the 2014 crop at 2.23 million hectares, up 4 percent from last year. The total wheat crop would be at around 9.8 million tonnes, up 2 percent on the year. Britain's wheat crop was in generally good condition after a mild winter with output expected to rise following a sharp increase in planted area.
"The weather is helping crop development, certainly it's helping farmers stay on top of their fieldwork," said Jack Watts, senior analyst at the Home-Grown Cereals Authority. An HGCA survey, issued last month, showed wheat plantings in England and Wales were at 1.815 million hectares as of December 1, up 19 percent compared with the previous season.
Comments
Comments are closed.