Germany: Area planted to winter barley down 6.4% this year

According to the German National Statistical Office, the area of winter wheat in the country for the 2025 harvest increased by 12.2% compared to the previous season and amounted to 2.78 million hectares.

The weather during the sowing campaign in autumn 2024 was favorable, in contrast to autumn 2023, when rains prevented the sowing of winter crops, especially wheat.

The area of winter rapeseed for the 2025 harvest was expanded to 1.1 million hectares, by 1.5% compared to the previous year.

At the same time, the sowing of winter barley, which is mainly used as animal feed, was reduced by 6.4% to 1.22 million hectares. Farmers switched from barley to wheat and rapeseed, which have more attractive prices.

Thanks to the mild winter, winter crops were almost not damaged by frost, so the area that needs to be resown with spring crops will be small. The area of corn for grain will decrease by 7.3% to 334 thousand hectares.