On Wednesday 16 September, the EU's agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) confirmed that there has been a drop in European wheat and oilseed rape production and a deterioration in the cash flow situation of European cereal producers.
“In a context where climate disruptions throughout the year have led to a decrease of the sown area for winter crops”, the latest figures published by Copa and Cogeca confirm that EU wheat production has dropped by 13.6% and that the yield for oilseed rape remains very low at 17 million tonnes.
The organisations mention a wide disparity between producers and regions. In a press release, they state that: “Even more concerning is the fact that with current market prices producers cannot cover production costs and farms are increasingly facing cash-flow difficulties”.
The latest forecasts by Copa-Cogeca show a 13.6% decline in EU soft wheat production (an average decline of 20 million tonnes) compared to the 2019 harvest.
This drop is mainly due to the bad weather conditions and the increased presence of insect pests and diseases, “which are ever harder to combat”, says Copa-Cogeca. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)