EU crop monitor ups soft wheat, barley, maize yield forecasts

PARIS: The European Union's crop monitoring service slightly increased its forecast of this year's soft wheat yield in the bloc to 6.05 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) from 6.02 t/ha in its initial outlook last month.

This would be 8.2 percent above the average EU soft wheat yield in 2016, when the crop was hit by adverse weather, the MARS service said in a monthly report published on Monday.

It also slightly lifted its outlook for the EU's 2017 winter barley yield to 5.82 t/ha from 5.81 t/ha last month, but left the spring barley yield forecast unchanged at 4.21 t/ha.

For grain maize, MARS put the average yield at 7.13 t/ha, up from 7.12 t/ha seen last month.

In oilseeds, MARS lowered its projection of this year's rapeseed yield to 3.27 t/ha from 3.29 t/ha.

It kept its forecast of the EU's average sugar beet yield in 2017 unchanged at 74.2 t/ha.