HAMBURG: Germany’s 2022 winter wheat harvest will increase about 1% on the year to an estimated 21.38 million tonnes, the DBV association of German farmers said on Tuesday. Winter wheat harvesting is approaching completion in many German regions, the association said.

Wheat in some regions had suffered from the heat-wave and dryness this summer, but yields in other areas were reasonable, it said.

Nationally, German winter wheat harvest yields were up some 4% on the year to an estimated 7.64 tonnes a hectare, it said. Germany is generally the European Union’s second largest wheat producer after France and a major grain exporter. German traders are hoping for a good wheat harvest this year to meet strong import demand after war disrupted Ukrainian grain exports.

Germany’s harvest of winter rapeseed, used for edible oil, animal feed and biodiesel production, will rise about 13% on the year to an estimated 3.96 million tonnes. Rapeseed oil content is also satisfactory, it said. The winter barley crop, largely used for animal feed, will increase about 3% on the year to 9.16 million tonnes. But the crop of silage maize is believed to have suffered from the recent heat-wave which could threaten feed grain supplies to farms, it added.