Poland set for record grain harvest

Poland's grain output this year is likely to set a new record high, topping earlier forecasts for 25-26 million tonnes, Farming Minister Wojciech Olejniczak told Reuters on Thursday.
"It's going to be a record harvest, well above latest forecasts," Olejniczak said. In July the statistical office estimated this year's grain harvest, excluding maize, at 24.9-25.9 million tonnes, up some 16-21 percent from 2003.
The office is due to update the grain output estimate later this month.
Olejniczak said favourable weather boosted the harvest, which came several months after Poland became a European Union member and just before its farmers received their first ever direct subsidies from Brussels.
"Our farmers have gotten used to complaining - that the EU is the root of all evil," Olejniczak said. "Now we see a complete turnaround in the atmosphere in the countryside."