Heavy rainfall is endangering the harvest in Germany, Joachim Rukwied, head of the German Farmers’ Association, said on Monday.
The grain harvest is expected to be 42 million tonnes, slightly less than last year’s result, Rukwied explained during a farm visit in Frankfurt.
According to him, the heat and humidity promoted rotting of the potato crop, which could lead to crop failure due to a lack of pesticides.
Rukwied said pesticides were necessary given the flooding and waterlogging. “Combined with rising temperatures, the risk of fungal infections in many crops is increasing sharply,” he added.
Farmers needed a wide range of inputs to maintain plant resistance, while fewer pesticides and agricultural chemicals were available in Germany, Rukwied said.
Wet conditions in the autumn affected the sowing plans of many farmers in low-lying areas, resulting in a reduction in the areas planted with winter wheat and oilseed rape.
Sowing was often postponed until spring, almost tripling the area of spring wheat to 100,000 hectares.
However, winter wheat remains by far the most important cereal crop in Germany with 2.6 million hectares sown, followed by winter barley with 1.3 million hectares.
