The cereal harvest of Italy and other
European countries could be down by as much as 60% this year,
the Copa and Cogeca European agriculture groups said on Monday.
"In the space of two months, forecasts for harvests which were
initially positive have been turned on their head by poor
weather conditions across Europe," a statement said.
"For cereals the situation is extremely worrying with an
expected production of 256 million tonnes, possibly the worst
harvest since 2007 and 10% below the last 5-year average.
"Many farmers will not be able to cover their production costs,
this is why Copa and Cogeca are launching an urgent call to
action to face this difficult situation in 2023 and its
consequences for 2024...
"Droughts have hit again across all the EU in May and June, with
no precipitations at all in some regions.
"We are now expecting a serious reduction of the production,
especially for cereals, not only in Spain, Portugal, or Italy
(up to -60% compared to 2022), but all over the EU (e.g.,
Romania -20%, Finland -30%, Poland - 14%, Lithuania -35%
compared to the May forecast).
"These low cereal production numbers will be accompanied by a
serious issue of quality in many regions".
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