PARIS: Crop monitoring service MARS on Monday raised its outlook for this year’s soft wheat yield in the European Union, citing high expectations in southern Europe, while noting that dry weather continued to threaten yields in the northern part of the bloc.
The service projected the EU’s soft wheat yield at 6.05 metric tons per hectare, against from 6.04 t/ha forecast last month. That was 9% above the yield in last year’s rain-hit harvest and also 5% above the five-year average.
France and the Benelux have suffered from a prolonged lack of rain just as winter crops are at the grain-filling stage. As dry weather is set to continue, winter and spring crop yields are likely to deteriorate, MARS said.
The summer of 2025 is forecast to be warmer and drier than usual in a wide area from the UK to the Black Sea, MARS said in a separate report on drought in Europe.
For barley, MARS projected the overall EU yield, including both winter and spring varieties, at 5.23 t/ha, up from 5.14 t/ha forecast last month and 10% higher than the five-year average.
For rapeseed, it projected the EU’s average yield in 2025 at 3.17 t/ha, down from 3.20 t/ha expected in April but up 8% from last year. It also marginally increased average grain maize yields to 7.46 t/ha, versus 7.45 t/ha in May.