Germany's harvest prospects have continued to brighten through wet weather, prompting the country's agricultural co-operatives group DRV to revise up projected production for wheat and corn, despite slight cuts to the barley and rapeseed figures shown in last month's report.
DRV made the following changes in its latest monthly harvest update, compared with its previous report from July:
- Wheat harvest estimated at 22.4mn t, up by 850,000t
- Barley at 10.3mn t, down by 100,000t
- Corn at 4.6mn t, up by 100,000t
- Rapeseed at 3.9mn t, broadly unchanged
The large rise in projected wheat production comes from increases in both area and yield. Wet weather early on in the harvest delayed fieldwork but overall had a positive impact on yields, DRV said.
Quality in the wheat crop is mixed, with DRV reporting a higher average protein content compared with last year, when Germany harvested lots of 11.5pc wheat and feed wheat compared with its typical 12.5pc grade. Low falling number and its effect on crop quality could be the main problem for marketing German wheat this year, DRV said.
Recent rain and the resulting increase in soil moisture will be particularly beneficial to the spring-planted corn crop, which is still in the ground, DRV said.
