German farmers less optimistic about grains

DBV estimates the total German grain harvest at 45,4 million tons, the organization announced yesterday (Wednesday, July 8) based on data from the 18 regional divisions. The yield is just below the 5-year average of 45,6 million tons. The 2021 harvest will be 5% higher than that of 2020, when the total was 43,2 million tons.

Big differences
"We expect an average harvest with regional differences," says Joachim Rukwied, chairman of DBV, in the message. "After a warm period, the situation in many regions has improved due to the rain in recent weeks. In northeastern Germany, however, the heat has already caused damage to crops, causing yields to be below the long-term average. In many other regions decent yields are expected. The crops are generally in good condition. But the rest of the summer determines the yields."

Winter wheat and winter barley remain by far the largest arable crops with 2,83 million and 1,25 million hectares respectively. The rapeseed area is 991.500 hectares. That is a small increase compared to last year, but still 250.000 hectares below the long-term average. As in Belgium and the Netherlands, the area of ​​summer grain has also decreased in Germany. The Germans have sown 36% less spring wheat compared to last year and 17% less spring barley.

Oats are gaining popularity among our eastern neighbors and 16% more of them have been sown. According to DBV, this expansion is due to additional demand from the food industry for the raw material for oat milk and related products. Despite the expansion in area, DBV expects that there is still room for a higher price for oats.