Farmers in central and eastern Europe are set for a good grains crop this summer as favourable weather has largely offset delayed winter sowings in the region. Ample rains and increased spring sowings have helped the plantings across eastern Europe, with Ukraine, a big Black Sea grain producer, expecting to harvest 48 million tonnes of grain this year, compared to 39.2 million in 2010.
Ukraine's Deputy Farm Minister Mykola Bezugly said the 2011 wheat crop would be no less than 20 million tonnes. Other analysts also expect a bumper crop in Ukraine. Farmers in smaller Black Sea producers are also expected to see a good crop, with Romania's farm ministry predicting a 12 percent rise in the wheat harvest to about 6.4 million tonnes due to better irrigation which will boost yields and offset lower acreage.
Favourable weather will keep neighbouring Bulgaria's wheat crop at around 4.0 million tonnes, flat on the previous year, despite a cut in planting area, officials said. The good crops are likely to add further pressure on European wheat prices, already falling following weekend rain in drought-hit western Europe and price competition as Black Sea producer Russia prepares to resume exports.
Poland, one of the European Union's big grain producers, has increased spring sowings to compensate for lower acreage of winter crops and now sees its 2011 grain harvest matching last year's 27.3 million tonnes. Farmers in the Czech Republic expect unchanged yields to deliver 4.26 million tonnes of wheat and 1.65 million tonnes of barley, while Slovakia says that a lack of floods, which damaged yields in 2010, will help farmers get much better crops. Hungary, the only exception to the positive trend, sees its 2011 wheat crop at up to 3.6 million tonnes, down from 3.76 million a year ago after floods destroyed 53,000 hectares put to wheat.
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