A large proportion of barley grown in the European Union is planted in spring, but early reports for France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Portugal indicate that winter barley area is also about 5 % greater than last year. Establishment conditions for winter grains have generally been favorable in recent months.

An EU farm policy change to reduce the obligatory set-aside rate from 10 % to 5 % could spur an increase in spring crop area, compared to last year. Survey results from other major wheat and barley producers, including the UK, Spain and Italy will not be available until later this spring. The first official USDA EU wheat and coarse grain production forecast will be released on May 12, 2004.

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