Germans sell rye into EU intervention

German farmers and agricultural co-operatives have contracted to sell 93,900 tonnes of rye and 2,490 tonnes of barley for European Union intervention subsidies, German intervention agency BLE said on Monday.
The current intervention ends on May 31, when rye will be removed permanently from intervention as part of the EU's reforms of its huge farming spending. So farmers have only until the end of the month to claim the subsidies.
This time last season, Germans had sold 394,000 tonnes of rye and 1,066,000 tonnes of barley into intervention.
The poor harvest in summer 2003 means commercial prices have been higher than the EU intervention price this season, saving the EU huge sums in subsidies.
But last-minute sales of rye had been generally expected as the EU has been selling large volumes of rye each week from its huge intervention stocks for internal EU use to relieve tight grain supplies.
This has depressed the commercial rye market and many producers, especially in east Germany, are expected to take their last chance to sell for EU intervention subsidies in the next week.