European Union Corn Production Increases, Grains Fall
31 July 2012 
Corn production in the European Union is up 1% from last year, according to recent USDA estimates.
The USDA’s newest forecast indicates corn production in the European Union (EU) for 2012/13 at 65.5 million tons, up 1.3 million or 2 percent from last month, and up 0.8 million or 1% from last year.
Harvested area is estimated at 9.5 million hectares, up 0.2 million hectares from last month, and up 0.7 million hectares from last year.
Yield is estimated at 6.90 tons per hectare (t/ha), compared to last month’s 6.93 t/ha, and last year’s 7.39 t/ha.
Drought during the fall of 2011 and severe winter conditions during late January and early February 2012 caused significant reductions to the size of the EU’s winter grains and oilseed crops, resulting in increased area of the spring crops, primarily corn and sunflower, according to the USDA.
Fields initially intended to be sown with rapeseed, wheat, or barley, weren’t planted because of the drought.
During the 2012/13 season, France is estimated to produce 15.5 million tons from 1.7 million hectares. Estimates indicate Romania will harvest 10 million tons from 2.8 million hectares.
Italy is estimated to produce 9.4 million tons from 1 million hectares. Hungary is forecast to produce 8 million tons from 1.3 million hectares.
Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Edited by Stefanie A. Toth, Online Editor
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