Little change to mediocre EU crop yield outlook

Frequent rainfall hampered harvesting in the north , while heatwaves negatively affected summer crops in the south.

At EU level, impacts of these events on (the already mediocre) yield expectations have been limited. The yield forecast for sunflowers was revised upwards, mainly due to better-than-expected conditions in Spain and France, which offset the yield effect of worsened conditions in Bulgaria.

Rain hampered harvesting in the north

Abundant rain in frequent events, in many parts of north-western, northern central, and northern Europe, benefited summer crops, but caused delays to the harvesting of winter and spring crops. Most seriously affected are north-western France, the Benelux countries, and large parts of Germany. Negative impacts are expected to mainly concern grain quality.

Hot and/or dry conditions affected summer crops in the south

Heatwaves and drier-than-usual conditions particularly impacted summer crops in Bulgaria, southern and eastern Romania, Czechia and central Poland. Crops in the Iberian peninsula were also affected, but less than expected earlier, as the heat did not reach extreme levels as it did last year.

Torrential rains caused damage in southern central regions

Torrential rains, and localised but numerous thunderstorms and hailstorms caused substantial damage to crops in northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. In Slovenia, torrential rains in the beginning of August caused floods and widespread damage to agricultural land.

Further information

JRC MARS (Monitoring Agricultural Resources) Bulletins

JRC AGRI4CAST Toolbox

The latest information about global agricultural production hotspots for countries at risk of food insecurity is available on the JRC’s ASAP (Anomaly hot Spots of Agricultural Production).