Drought and heat in Latvia destroy grain yields

According to the European Commission (EC) forecast, wheat crop in Latvia this year will decrease by 9% compared to last year, according to the Department of Agriculture and Direct Support of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Given the adverse weather conditions - drought and heat - in April, May and June 2018, it can be expected that grain yield will decrease significantly in 2018, according to the MM Market and Direct Support Department. The EC has forecasted that wheat production in Latvia will decrease by 9%

The International Grains Council (IGC) predicts that total cereal production in 2018/2019. will decrease by 0.6% year-on-year in comparison with 2017/2018 and by 2.8% compared to the record year of 2016/2017.

According to the IGC, wheat consumption will continue to increase, resulting in a decrease in wheat stocks. IGC predicts that wheat production in the European Union (EU) 2018/2019. in the season of the harvest will decrease by 2.6%, in Kazakhstan - by 6.7%, in Russia - by 16.5%, in Ukraine - by 1%.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine points out that the reduction of wheat production in the global market is predicted by the fact that Russia is suffering from a significant drop in wheat yield, which is characterized by adverse weather conditions such as dry and hot weather.

According to the data provided by the MFA Market and Direct Support Department, the price of food wheat in Latvia in May this year was 4% higher than in 2017 in that month, and by 5.7% lower than the average price in Latvia in the last five years. In May of this year, the price of food wheat was 2.5% lower than the EU average in May this year, but 1.3% higher than the price in Lithuania and 9.5% higher than the price of food wheat in Estonia.

Source: www.kasjauns.lv