Too wet, too little sun, combine harvesters slowed down: for many farmers, the grain harvest was a complete washout. The general market situation is also difficult.
Too much rain has resulted in a significantly poorer grain harvest for farmers this summer. The German Farmers’ Association announced that the harvest would be 39.3 million tonnes, compared to 42 million tonnes in the 2023 harvest. This is a “sobering result”. Farms are also struggling with lower prices and continuing high costs. Agricultural products are not the driver of prices in the supermarket, it said. The industry warned against making the use of crop protection products and fertilizers to secure harvests more difficult with new regulations.
Farmers’ President Joachim Rukwied said in Berlin: “Unfortunately, we were only able to harvest a below-average crop.” It was once again a nail-biter that ended in great disappointment. In many regions, there were massive drops in quantities and grain quality. First there was extremely wet weather from autumn to early summer, then there was no sun. Most recently, rain and thunderstorms repeatedly forced combine harvesters to take breaks. The 2024 harvest will once again show clearly noticeable effects of climate change, said Rukwied.
Big loss for wheat
In concrete terms, this had an impact on winter wheat, the most important grain variety in this country. Due to unfavourable weather during sowing, the area under cultivation shrank by 330,000 hectares. The association now expects the quantity to be 18 million tonnes, compared to just over 21 million tonnes last year. The quantity of winter barley is likely to fall slightly to 8.9 million tonnes and that of rapeseed to 3.7 million tonnes. Overall, this continues a downward trend that has been ongoing for several harvest years.
“We farmers are doubly disappointed with the 2024 harvest,” explained Rukwied. In addition to the weaker results, the prices that farms can achieve for their grain have come under even greater pressure. Wheat is currently around 200 euros per tonne – ten to 15 percent below the level of a year ago and far from the peak prices of 350 euros in 2022. “That is not really understandable,” said the farmers’ president. The harvest in France and Spain, for example, was also weaker, and supplies are tight globally. The indicators therefore actually point to price stabilization.
Food just dampened inflation
In supermarkets, a phase of sharp price increases for food is over for now. According to the Federal Statistical Office, food was 1.3 percent more expensive in July than a year earlier – but that was below the general inflation rate of 2.3 percent. Rukwied pointed out that the share of agricultural raw materials in the final price – depending on the degree of processing of the product – has been falling for years. But it is also clear: “We as farmers need significantly higher producer prices in the short term and in general in order to be able to produce economically.”
Negative combination for companies
However, the combination of low yields and low prices is now taking its toll on farms, as Rukwied made clear. In addition, operating costs for energy, for example, are still high. Economical grain cultivation is therefore hardly possible in Germany anymore. The association also sees restrictions and requirements on the use of pesticides and fertilizers as a critical factor. Politicians must quickly rethink this, warned Rukwied. Otherwise there is a risk that more and more feed wheat will be produced instead of higher-quality bread wheat.
It is also a difficult year for many fruit growers. Due to frost in the spring, one of the smallest apple harvests is expected, although things are looking even better in southern Germany than in the north. Growing strawberries was not really fun this time either, as not everything could be harvested due to too much moisture. Sugar beets, corn, potatoes and vegetables that are harvested in the autumn were able to benefit from rain – even if potatoes suffered from rot. When it comes to wine, Rukwied was optimistic that there will be a good vintage in 2024.
Source: Stern
