The German farmers' association expects the lowest grain harvest since 2018

According to the forecast of the German Raiffeisen Farmers Association (DRV), grain production in the country in 2024 will decrease by 8% compared to last year to 39.1 million tons, which will be the worst indicator since 2018. Therefore, considering the grain consumption at the level of 40 million tons, the need for imports will increase.

According to the Association's estimates, wheat production in 2024 will decrease by 12.8% compared to last year to 18.76 million tons (previously estimated at 20.2 million tons) as a result of prolonged rains during the period of development and harvest.

Winter rapeseed production will decrease by 13.9% to 3.64 million tons (previously estimated at 3.8 million tons) against the backdrop of a reduction in sowing areas and deterioration of productivity due to unstable weather, heavy precipitation, shortage of sun and heat, as well as increased restrictions on use of fertilizers and plant protection products.

At the same time, DRW experts warn of possible difficulties with imports, since in other EU countries, in particular France and Spain, as well as in the Black Sea region, harvests will be lower than last year, and the balance of grain supply both in Europe and around the world will again be tense . Only the future corn harvest does not cause concern.

According to the latest DRW forecast, in 2024 Germany will collect:

• winter wheat - 18.8 million tons,
• spring wheat - 459.5 thousand tons,
• rye - 2.8 million tons,
• winter barley - 8.7 million tons,
• spring barley - 1.8 million tons,
• corn - 4.4 million tons,
• oats - 675.7 thousand tons,
• triticale - 1.5 million tons.