During the summer of 2023, dry weather combined with excess rainfall in several parts of Europe continued to test farmers’ resilience, according to the autumn 2023 edition of the report on the short-term outlook for EU agricultural markets, published on Monday 9 October by the European Commission.
Yields of various arable crops were affected by these adverse weather conditions. At the same time, the Commission is noting positive signs, for instance the fall in the cost of inputs such as energy, fertilisers and animal feed, and the good performance of EU agri-food exports.
The report also shows that wine is one of the products whose consumption has fallen as a result of rising prices combined with a structural decline in the consumption of red wines. Crisis distillation, authorised this summer by the European Commission, is helping to stabilise the market. EU wine production in 2023/2024 is set to fall by around 6%, mainly due to a drop in Italian and Spanish production.
Meat has also been affected by a fall in consumption due to high prices.
EU cereals production for 2023/2024 is expected to be 4.3% below the five-year average (to 268.5 million tonnes) due to poor weather conditions in spring and summer, which particularly affected maize and barley production.
The use of cereals for animal feed should remain stable, while the use of cereals for the production of biofuels could continue to increase (12% more than in 2022/2023). EU oilseed production is doing well (11% above the five-year average).
EU sugar production in 2023/2024 is forecast at 15.6 million tonnes, close to the five-year average, according to the European Commission.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8yk (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)