Water excess in the west; hot and dry in the east

The most notable downward revisions were for sunflowers, grain maize, and field peas, while forecasts for spring barley and durum wheat were revised slightly upwards.

The main reasons for the lowered yield expectations are hot and dry conditions in south-eastern Europe, whereas large areas in the west continued to experience unfavorable wet conditions.

Exceptionally hot conditions harmed summer crops in southern-central and south-eastern Europe

In large parts of southern-central and south-eastern Europe, June and July were exceptionally hot, with several days seeing maximum temperatures above 35°C, which negatively affected summer crops around flowering. Notably in eastern Hungary, eastern Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece the high temperatures were coupled with a persistent rain deficit, exacerbating these negative impacts. Winter and spring cereals were less affected in these regions, as they had already reached the end of the growth cycle.

Excessive rainfall continued in large areas of western Europe and northern Italy 

Water excess persisted in large parts of the Netherlands, western and southern Germany, central France, and northern Italy. Winter and/or summer crops in several of those regions have been suffering since the start of the season from waterlogging, associated pest and disease pressures, and difficulties faced by farmers in conducting field operations. 

Spring barley: an exception to overall mediocre yield outlook

An exception to the overall mediocre yield outlook is spring barley for which the yield forecast is comfortably above the 5-year average and was further revised upwards, thanks to continued favourable conditions in Spain as well as in northern Europe.

Further information

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