EU Wheat Harvest Hit Hard by Drought

The European Union’s wheat harvest may wind up about six million tons less than it was a year ago. Crops in the northern part of the EU suffered through a hot and dry spring. Reuters said there is some late-season signs of crop damage in France, one of the top wheat producers in the EU. Those potential losses in the EU are adding to the speculation that global supplies of the food staple will shrink during the 2018-2019 marketing year.

Several of the world’s top production areas have faced adverse weather conditions during their growing seasons. The 28-country European Union is collectively the world’s largest wheat producer. Projections now expect the bloc to produce approximately 136 million tons of soft wheat this year. The outlook is about 4% lower than last year’s output. As little as three months ago, forecasters were expecting the 2018 wheat crop to be identical to the output in 2017. However, it’s been extremely dry since early June, especially in northern areas, and crops have suffered.

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