Grain harvest in Schmalkalden-Meiningen: The first harvest has started!

Grain harvest in Schmalkalden-Meiningen: The first harvest has started!

In the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen, the grain harvest has started. The starting shot was given on hot days in early July, and the agricultural company Jüchsen began the winter barley with the threshing. However, there was a short break because plant construction manager Jakob Höfling explained that the straw had to be picked up from the previous day. Light rain is predicted for the next day, but to a modest extent, which could influence the harvesting work. However, the winter barley is not ripe everywhere, which makes it difficult to harvest and ensures additional challenges, reports Insuedthueringen .

A look across the borders shows that the grain harvest in other European countries is also underway. In France, for example, sowing was quickly completed by summer barley, despite the initial delays due to wet weather in March. Dry weather in the same month favored growth, and the plants are now in the Bestocken phase. In the Benelux countries, the sowing has been easy since mid-February thanks to good conditions. Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, where sowing was largely completed by early April, also recorded similar successes. However, the soil moisture in many of these regions has decreased, and additional rain is needed to support growth, such as Agrarheute reported.

drought and its consequences

The current drought prepares many farmers of headaches. The harvest of winter barley in Germany is estimated at 9.5 million tons, which represents an increase compared to 2022. Even if the winter barley and the overall harvest results are positive, winter wheat is particularly suffering from climatic conditions. As a result, Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir plans to rethink the decommissioning of fields in order to avert an impending shortage of grain, which is tightened by the continuing Ukraine conflict. Since 2023, the EU has been pursuing the strategy of not managing four percent of agricultural areas to preserve biodiversity, which is also complicated, such as Back internation shown.

Current market movements show that wheat prices rise. After the grain agreement with Russia expired in mid -July, prices on the stock exchanges in Paris and Chicago increased. September wheat is now at EUR 253.75 per tonne on the Euronext, while in Chicago a ton of wheat now costs 238.31 euros. These price developments clearly show that the harvesting conditions and the global events have a major impact on the markets.

The harvest in Rhineland-Palatinate is started optimistically, but it remains to be seen how the weather conditions affect the further harvest results. Farmers and agricultural experts are required to react flexibly and adapt to the challenges of the weather to secure the harvest yield.