Germany: Both winter and spring barley area down this year
Germany's winter wheat sown area for the 2021 harvest has been increased by 3.0% on the year to some 2.83 million hectares, Germany’s national statistics office said on May 19.
German winter rapeseed sowings for the 2021 crop have been expanded by 3.9% on year to some 991,000 hectares, the office said in its latest estimate.
The area planted with sugar beet has been expanded by 3.2 percent on the year for the harvest starting in autumn 2021 to some 398,000 hectares, it said in its first estimate of beet sowings.
Sowings of winter barley, largely used for animal feed, were cut by 3.6% to some 1.25 million hectares, the statistics agency said.
The area planted with spring barley, used for malt and beer production, fell 17.1% to around 300,000 hectares. The spring wheat area was reduced by 35.7 percent to only 27,000 hectares.
The area for grain maize (corn) fell 0.5% to around 417,000 hectares.
“It looks like farmers are turning away from low-priced grains like barley, towards wheat,” a German grain trader said.
“The mild winter means there is less of a need to replant frost damaged crops, so the spring grain areas are reduced. Overall, Germany is looking set for a decent wheat harvest this summer.”
Germany is the European Union’s second largest wheat producer after France and in many years the EU’s largest producer of rapeseed, Europe’s main oilseed for edible oil and biodiesel production.
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