Brandenburg's harvest: More wheat, but sad fruit balance!

Brandenburg's harvest: More wheat, but sad fruit balance!

Brandenburg's farmers can look back on a year of mixed harvest results. According to recent reports, farmers have harvested ten thousand tons more grain this year than last year, but the quality of the harvested grain is worrying. Despite the increased volume, made difficult by heavy rain in late July and early August, much of the grain is wet and could not be harvested promptly. In many cases, this led to the grain germinating or becoming affected by mold, so that it can ultimately only be used as animal feed and is no longer suitable for baked goods, reports RBB24.

The state farmers' association will present an official balance sheet of the harvest results on Thursday in Teltow, Potsdam-Mittelmark. Henrik Wendorff, the association's president, has already announced that earnings expectations are below the previous year's level. He shares this assessment with regard to the spring drought between February and June, during which there was significantly less precipitation than would have been necessary for healthy plants. During this period, only an average of 62 l/m² of precipitation fell, which is half of the long-term climate average LBV Brandenburg reported.

Effects of weather conditions

The combination of the proven harvest conditions and the persistent lack of precipitation has resulted in many farms suffering from the difficult conditions. Increasing soil moisture is particularly noticeable in regions with less precipitation and light soils. In these regions, farmers take targeted crop protection measures to prevent total plant failure. At the same time, they have to contend with low grain prices and high production costs, fueled by rising prices for fertilizer, crop protection and energy.

Given these challenges, the cultivation and marketing of classic market crops is becoming increasingly important. The area under cultivation for winter wheat in Brandenburg will be increased to 159,486 hectares in 2025, which means an increase of more than 20,000 hectares compared to 2024. The cultivation of winter rye is also growing to 133,352 hectares, while winter rapeseed is expanding slightly to 93,978 hectares. These figures demonstrate farmers' efforts to respond to changing market conditions.

Changes in the grain trade

The coming year will also be characterized by new regulations in the grain trade. From 2025 it will be more complicated to obtain crop certificates. A ruling by the Federal Court of Justice requires traders to ensure that the harvested crop is flawless in terms of plant variety protection law. Finally, proof is required that licensed seeds were used or reproduction fees were paid. This additional bureaucracy is criticized by the state farmers' association, which is calling for a simpler self-declaration.

Overall, it can be seen that Brandenburg's farmers are faced with many challenges in a year in which the area under cultivation for grain fell by at least 0.8% to around 5.6 million hectares. The harvest volume is expected to be significantly below last year's level, while the average yield per hectare is only 46.8 decitons, which puts it far behind other federal states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia with 78.3 decitons. This data comes from the preliminary harvest report of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture BLE published.