Difficult start to autumn

Yield forecasts of key summer crops revised (further) downwards

The yield forecasts for grain maize, sunflowers and soybeans have been revised downwards at the EU level, mainly due to a worsening of the outlook for summer crops in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Italy. The yield forecasts for other summer crops were maintained or revised slightly upwards at the EU level.

In northern and central Italy, summer crops (particularly grain maize and soybeans) were negatively affected by excessively wet conditions during ripening and harvesting, thus diminishing the hitherto positive yield expectations at country level. In Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Croatia, intensive end-of-season rains from mid-September contributed to a worsening of yield expectations (particularly for sunflowers and grain maize), which were already low due to the preceding very hot and dry conditions.

Overly wet conditions also raised concerns about grain quality and the sowing of winter crops

Overly wet conditions – often associated with torrential rains - were also observed in many other parts of central and western Europe. The rainfall not only caused delays to the harvesting of summer crops but also raised concerns about grain quality, and hampered the sowing campaign for winter cereals.

This issue of the Bulletin features a special section on sowing conditions for winter crops.

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