In Europe, lower crop yields are expected due to the summer drought

The extremely dry and hot weather that characterizes most of Europe in summer basically determines the expected crop yields: lower crop yields are also expected from corn and sunflower, according to the international agrometeorological situation picture of the National Meteorological Service.

It was recalled in the analysis: the weather has a major influence on agricultural production, especially crop production, all over the world. Weather extremes in large production areas, or the lack of them, have a great impact on the world market, and therefore on agricultural prices in Hungary. Based on measurements based on satellite measurements, the natural and cultivated vegetation is not in good condition in, among others, the western and central regions of Europe, the western half of the USA, and Argentina, they wrote. They added: Severe drought lasted from early July to mid-August in most of France, affecting virtually all agricultural areas, including arable crops, pastures, vineyards and orchards. Maize and sunflower were significantly damaged, but potatoes and sugar beets did not suffer serious damage. All summer crop yield forecasts in Germany are well below the five-year average.

Europe was doing badly

In Poland, the yield prospects of summer crops are very varied between different parts of the country: in the west, the corn harvest was poor, but where the soil moisture was more favorable, the plants are in very good condition and the yield prospects are also encouraging. The yield estimates for potatoes and sunflowers are slightly below the five-year average, while sugar beet is expected to be around average. Corn and sunflower yields are expected to be well below average in Romania. Average yields for summer crops in Spain and Portugal are expected to be well below the five-year average, as are very low yields for corn, sunflower and soybeans in Italy. In Ukraine, the precipitation arrived just in time in the central and northern areas to improve the condition of the summer crops, but in the southern and western areas, it came too late, so in areas where low crop yields are expected. In Russia, the yields of summer crops have decreased, especially in the southern regions, but the Russian Ministry of Agriculture expects a record wheat harvest.

In Australia, the Americas and the Far East, the damage is less

In the United States of America, according to national statistics, 53 percent of corn stocks were in good or excellent condition, which is slightly below the value observed at this time last year, but in Iowa, the most important corn-growing state, this ratio was 63 percent in mid-September. The estimated value of China’s corn crop is 274 million tons (from 43 million hectares), which is a record crop and exceeds last year’s value by one percent. The estimated yield is also a record high, 6.37 tons per hectare. A record quantity of wheat is also expected, with a record yield. However, the dry, warm weather reduces the rice yield prospects, and a national yield of 147 million tons is expected, which is slightly less than last year’s amount. In Australia, the rape crop is estimated at 6.7 million tons, which is slightly below the previous year’s record. In Argentina, the cool weather slows down the growth of autumn crops, but mostly the permanent drought causes concerns regarding the development of cereals and the emergence of freshly sown early summer crops. In Brazil, the northern growing areas have had warm, dry weather, even though moisture is needed to start planting soybeans and avoid further delays in agricultural work. In Canada, this year’s rapeseed crop is estimated at 20 million tons, which is 45 percent higher than last year’s otherwise very bad crop, but also 5 percent higher than the average yield of the last five years. Although the size of the production area has slightly decreased compared to last year, the expected yield has increased significantly, and is now estimated at 2.33 tons per hectare.

MTI