EU: Frost damage to winter grains is limited to some isolated regions in Central/East Europe

In the EU frost damage to winter grains is limited to some isolated regions in Central/East Europe, where there was no or insufficient snowcover during the cold wave, according to experts.

Final figures will not be known before spring. The cold weather – not the extreme – has continued till the end of the month, raising some concern about additional damages late in winter. Weather has prevented large scale spring planting in France except for the regions along the Atlantic coast. England already seeded about half of its spring barley, Germany started planting last week in the Rhine valley.

A great concern is the bird flu. It is spreading all over Europe, and a great affect on poultry consumption and consequently on grain and feed use is likely.