Winter crops in large parts of Europe in mediocre condition despite fair spring weather

In the north, the most severely affected fields are expected to be resown with spring or summer crops. In the south, the impacts are mainly reflected in reduced yield potential.

Excessively wet conditions, in some regions combined with frost damage, negatively affected large areas in the north

Since autumn, large parts of western, northern and eastern Europe experienced excessively wet conditions, which negatively affected the sowing, emergence and development of winter crops. In northern and eastern Europe, additional damage to crops was caused by severe frost events. Persistently wet soils also created challenging conditions for farmers to access and work the fields, thus affecting the (re)sowing of spring cereals.

Persistent dry conditions negatively impacted the yield potential in several southern regions

In eastern Romania and eastern Bulgaria, winter crops are suffering from a persistent rainfall deficit, which particularly affects winter rapeseed. In Sicily and the Maghreb, drought conditions during the winter led to low winter crop biomass accumulation. The situation is particularly serious in the western Maghreb, where continuing hot and dry weather conditions have led to a situation in which crops are at imminent risk of failure.

Crop yield forecasts still based on historical trends

As it is still early in the season, the crop yield forecasts reported in this edition of the Bulletin are – with a few exceptions - based on historical trends.

Further information

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