Copa-Cogeca is calling on the EU Commission for flexibility in the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) this year due to a “rapidly deteriorating situation” with the EU cereal harvest.
The umbrella farming organisation said that forecasts for harvests, which had initially been positive, have been “turned on their head” due to poor weather conditions across Europe over the past two months.
It said the situation for cereals is “extremely worrying” with an expected production of 256 million tonnes, possibly the worst harvest since 2007 and 10% below the last five-year average.
Copa-Cogeca
At the start of May some EU member states such as Spain, Portugal and Italy were forecasted to suffer “severe losses” of up to 50% in their cereal harvest due to droughts and flooding.
At that time Copa-Cogeca forecasts were still estimating that the EU’s overall production would remain stable due to an improvement in weather conditions in northern and eastern Europe.
The farm organisation said that since then the situation has dramatically deteriorated with droughts across the EU in May and June.
Cereal production now is expected to be back by up to 60% in Spain, Portugal and Italy compared to 2022.
Harvests in Lithuania are anticipated to be 35% lower than the May forecast, while they will be down by 30% in Finland, 20% in Romania and 14% in Poland.
The lower cereal production forecasts will be compounded by a “serious issue of quality” in many EU regions.
The predicted overall EU production for oilseeds (32 million tonnes) and protein crops (3.8 million tonnes) remains largely unchanged, despite “dramatic” weather conditions in Spain and Italy.
However, the impact of the weather on quality could reduce profitability for growers.
Harvest
Copa-Cogeca said that many farmers will not be able to cover their production costs this year.
“European farmers face a double whammy as this low production is combined with very high input prices and low future prices for all crops.
“In addition to the high energy prices and the ongoing general inflation, it is crucial to note that fertilisers used for the 2023 harvest were bought when prices were at the highest in 2022.
“With current very low future prices for cereals (€219/t of milling wheat) and oilseeds (€407/t for rapeseed) this creates a situation that is simply untenable for most farmers as shown for France and Sweden,” the organisation said.
Along with urging the EU Commission to be flexible with the implementation of CAP this year, Copa-Cogeca is calling for derogations for 2024 due to the impact of these climatic conditions on the next agricultural year.
It also said that extending the suspension of import duties on ammonia and urea and applying the measure to mineral fertilisers would help farmers to cope “with a very difficult situation where they are being squeezed from all sides”.