Showers help parched German wheat

Showers in May following a long period of dry weather have helped parched German wheat recover from drought stress, Germany's largest grain trading house Toepfer International said on Monday. Rain has helped grain, especially in drought stressed north Germany, Toepfer said.
But grains are still suffering from dryness stress in other German regions, especially central and western regions, it said. Toepfer estimates Germany's 2011 wheat harvest will be down on the year at between 22.8 - 23.3 million tonnes against about 24 million tonnes last year. The barley crop is likely to fall to 9.0 to 9.5 million tonnes from 10.4 million tonnes, it said. But rapeseed crops have suffered irreversible damage from dryness, Toepfer said. Rapseed had already suffered from the especially cold winter and about 90,000 hectares in Germany needed to be replanted following the spring drought, it added.