Grain construction area in Germany drops to record low: DRV forecast 2024

Grain construction area in Germany drops to record low: DRV forecast 2024

The grain construction area in Germany will fall under six million hectares for the first time this year. The association's grain market expert, Guido Seedler, emphasizes that this is a new low. This development is attributed to various factors: On the one hand, construction work and the construction of photovoltaic systems continue to take advantage of arable land. In addition, according to the requirements of European agricultural policy, farmers have to shut down at least four percent of their areas for ecological reasons. As a consequence, the DRV expects a declining grain harvest in 2024.

The DRV predicts that the competition for arable land will be further tightened in the coming years and that the acreage will decrease significantly more. According to a study by the Thünen Institute, up to 600,000 hectares of agricultural space could be lost by building or implementing climate protection measures by 2030. This corresponds to around three percent of the total agricultural area in Germany. The DRV therefore emphasizes the need to secure as many areas as possible for agriculture and to increase productivity sustainably in order to combat the global hunger. The worldwide demand for food is expected to increase by around 50 percent by 2050.

The current grain situation is influenced by the precipitation of the past few months. While frost damage has only occurred to a limited extent, high water saturation of the soils and floods have led to problems in many regions. In some areas, no grain could be sown due to the wet. Lower Saxony and parts of Schleswig-Holstein are particularly affected. The stocks have come from winter weakened and sometimes new grain has to be sown. Thanks to the spring -like weather, the situation has now been a bit relaxed, but heavy soils in northern Germany are still hardly accessible.

The DRV predicts a grain harvest of 41 million tons in the event of average yields, which corresponds to a decline of a good 3.5 percent compared to the previous year. With regard to the rapeseed, a harvest of 3.9 million tons is expected, which is below the previous year's level.

In the following you will find information on grain production in Germany in recent years:

| Year | Cereal production (in millions of tons) |
|: —--: ————————————–: |
| 2019 | 45.2 |
| 2020 | 42.5 |
| 2021 | 43.1 |
| 2022 | 42.5 |
| 2023 | 42.2 |
| 2024 | 41.0 |

Source: German Raiffeisenverband

The German Raiffeisenverband is the top political association of all cooperatives and cooperative companies in the German agricultural and nutritional economy. The member companies generate sales of 85.6 billion euros in the production, trade and processing of plant and animal products. Farmers, gardeners and winemakers are the members and owners of the cooperatives. The DRV is recognized as a registered interest representative and has accepted the code of conduct of the German Bundestag and the Federal Government.

For further questions, Guido Seedler, DRV goods industry, is available on 030 856214-410 or by email at seedler@drv.raiffeisen.de

Source: German Raiffeisenverband/OTS