Overview
- Late May and June rains have largely offset a dry spring and raised prospects for a harvest in line with seasonal averages.
- Rukwied warns that final yields of potatoes, sugar beets, maize and soybeans will hinge on weather patterns in July and August.
- Grain prices have fallen to multiyear lows even as energy, fertilizer and crop protection expenses remain elevated, straining arable farmers.
- Milk production and cattle farming show signs of stabilization and modest growth, whereas the pig sector remains broadly flat.
- German winegrowers confront a deepening crisis with falling domestic consumption, rising foreign competition and the uprooting of vineyard acreage.