Europe, from Russia to Spain, was hardly hit this year, analysts said. Winter wheat and winter barley crops were decimated by frost, drought and heat. During August a record heat wave destroyed maize crops, particularly in France and Italy. Official estimates put the total grain crop of France 19 % below last year’s figure and that of Germany 9 % lower. The EU Commission estimates the EU grain crop at 188.5 million tonnes, down 11 % from the 212 million tonnes of last year. The Northwest of Europe, Ireland, UK, Scandinavia escaped from the worst conditions. As a large acreage of winter grains was ploughed up and replanted in spring, the EU ends up with a strange crop result: small and insufficient supplies of wheat and feed grains, but an abundance of malting barley. Spring barley plantings were also expanded in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia and the Ukraine, but only the Czechs harvested a larger crop than last year. The Balkan countries experienced an extremely bad year and harvested miserable crops of all grains. One example: Moldavia’s grain crop in 2003 was 10 % of the 2002 harvest.

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