Deutschen Bauernverbandes laid bare the damage to Germany's harvest from late rains, slashing its wheat production
forecast and warning of quality threats, while giving up on hopes of a rise in rapeseed output too.
forecast and warning of quality threats, while giving up on hopes of a rise in rapeseed output too.
The farmers' association, better known as the DBV, slashed by 1.16m tonnes to 23.35m tonnes its estimate of this year wheat crop in Germany, the European Union's second largest grower of the grain, and a particularly important exporter of higher protein supplies.
The downgrade, which took the estimate below last year's 24.09m-tonne result, reflected a cut of 0.37 tonnes per hectare, to 74.4 tonnes per hectare, in the yield figure.
"Last year's result of 7.7 tonnes has been missed by a good 3%, and the five-year average of 8 tonnes per hectare is almost 7%," the group said, blaming the weakened result on further weather setbacks, after a June "heatwave" which it blamed for ending prematurely the grain filling phase of development.
"In July and August… wheat crops suffered from the recurring rains," the DBV said, cautioning over "massive" harvest delays, besides damage from the moisture to crops themselves.
Indeed, with wet soils hampering fieldwork, the wheat harvest has not been completed in some coastal and high-altitude farms.
Fit only for feed
However, the DBV, whose latest estimates were based on harvest results, added that "addition to the losses in yield, the quality of the harvest has been reduced by the rainfall".
Hagberg falling numbers, which are "along with protein an important criteria for judging wheat as a bread grain, fell significantly in later-harvested crops".
The impact of the weak Hagberg number – a measures, in essence, of the extent of sprouting which is encouraged by wet weather on ripe kernels – was that "farmers are often only able to market this wheat as a feed wheat".
Feed wheat typically sells at a sharp discount to grain destined for human consumption.
Indeed, some growers have opted instead to cut wet crop and accept higher drying costs, rather than take the risk of quality downgrade penalties, the DBV said.
Rapeseed downgrade
For rapeseed too, for which Germany has often been the EU's top grower, the DBV cut its production forecast, to by nearly 350,000 tonnes to 4.31m tonnes, citing the summer rains, which followed tests from the likes of late frosts and June heat which "further reduced the yield potential".
Indeed, the yield forecast was cut by 0.26 tonnes per hectare to 3.30 tonnes per hectare.
"The rapeseed crop is thus nearly 6% below the previous year's harvest of 4.57m tonnes and about 18% below the five-year average of 5.3m tonnes," the association said, warning of quality damage to rapeseed too.
"In addition to the unsatisfactory yields, the oil content was often disappointing."
By: Mike Verdin (AgriMoney).
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