Copa and Cogeca (EU farming and agricultural cooperative organisations) estimates unveiled on Tuesday 7 March predict cereal production will be stable in 2017.
“Our latest figures show production is quite stable this year, reaching 296.6 million tonnes which is up 0.8% compared to 2016” said chair of the Copa and Cogeca cereals working party Max Schulman. He adds, in a press release, that producers remain very cautious about the figures as it is still too early to know the yield potential. “A lot will depend on weather events in the upcoming months.”
European cereals observatory. The area planted is down 1.8% on 2016 as farmers are suffering from severe cash flow problems mainly as a result of low prices, the press release states. Copa and Cogeca welcome EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan’s announcement that a cereals market observatory would be set up this summer. “Farmers want to look in more detail about how the market works”, Schulman continued. This is particularly important now that the common agricultural policy is more market-orientated and markets are more volatile, the organisations state. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)