The main reason for the total grain crop increase from last year is the expected recovery of corn production, which is now seen at 62.3 mln t. The previous forecast was at 64.5 mln t and last year’s crop at just 52.5 mln t. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Italy are forecast to see much bigger crops after the 2022 crop had been affected by severe drought and heat. The French corn crop, however, is not expected to recover to a substantial extent because plantings are forecast to drop due to high input costs. More extensive crops, such as sunseeds, are seen to substitute a part of the corn area.
Wheat production (excluding durum) is expected at 144.5 mln t, up from 143.3 in the last forecast and from 142.3 mln t in 2022. Similar to corn, higher crops are particularly expected for Spain, Italy, Hungary and the Balkan countries. The EU-27+UK 2023 barley production is forecast at 59.6 mln t, marginally down from the previous forecast of 60.0 mln t and slightly up from 58.8 mln t in 2022.
The EU-27+UK rapeseed crop is forecast at 21.1 mln t compared to 20.5 mln t in the previous forecast and 21.1 mln t in 2022. Plantings are up slightly year on year, while yields are expected to drop slightly from last year’s good level.
