Wheat crops in the European Union appear in generally good shape with mild conditions boosting development in France and Britain, while losses from deep frosts in parts of Germany and Poland are not expected to be significant. France, Germany, Britain and Poland are the EU's top four wheat growers, accounting for about 60 percent of the bloc's production of the grain.
In Germany, the EU's second largest wheat producer, snow cover is believed to have protected wheat from frosts as deep as minus 16 degrees Celsius in the past week, analysts said. "The really deep frosts were concentrated in east and north-east Germany including the Brandenburg region and crops in these areas seem to have sufficiently deep snow cover to survive without serious damage," one German grains analyst said.
"I am taking a relaxed view of the frost impact." Warmer weather, with single digit frosts or temperatures above freezing, is forecast for Germany up to Sunday. German farmers have expanded sowings of winter wheat for harvesting in summer 2014 by 2.5 percent on the year to 3.13 million hectares, the German government said.
Most of Poland's wheat has also been protected from deep frosts by snow cover in the last couple of weeks and only localised winterkill is expected, said Wojtek Sabaranski, of analysts Sparks Polska. "We have experienced some very low temperatures below minus 15 degrees Celsius recently," Sabaranski said. "In most regions of the country there is sufficient snow cover present." But snow cover is very thin in the western and south-western parts of Poland, and some local winterkill there is likely." Sparks Polska forecasts Poland's wheat area of all types for the 2014 crop will expand 5 percent from 2013 to about 2.25 million hectares as some Polish farmers are believed to have turned to wheat from rapeseed.
The weather has been generally mild in France and Britain, boosting crop development. "The mild temperatures are continuing to accelerate the growth of late-sown crops, which represent about 15 percent of sowings this year," said Philippe Gate, scientific director at French crop institute Arvalis. Fast crop development in France was making up for sowing delays and reducing the risk that a rain-soaked autumn would lead to area losses, he said.
Average temperatures in France in the first half of January were 3.8 degrees Celsius above the norm, according to public weather service Meteo France. In the week ahead, temperatures are forecast to remain relatively mild for the season, with lows generally above zero. Other risks for French crops were very wet conditions in some regions, particularly the south-west, which could hamper crop development, and the growth of weeds with some growers unable to apply treatment due to persistent rain.
The French farm ministry in December estimated the area for the 2014 harvest at 4.9 million hectares, compared with 5 million hectares of soft wheat harvested in 2013. Conditions in Britain have also been mild and wet. "We've had a fairly mild winter which makes us a little bit susceptible if we get a very sharp drop in temperature," Jack Watts, senior analyst with Britain's Home-Grown Cereals Authority said. The HGCA has forecast wheat area in the UK will rise 22 percent for the 2014 harvest to 1.98 million hectares, rebounding from a sharp decline in the previous season when heavy rains wrecked autumn plantings.
Source - http://www.brecorder.com/
