Corn crops in Bulgaria have been severely affected by drought

According to the forecast of the Foreign Agricultural Service FAS USDA, due to the severe drought, the corn harvest in Bulgaria will be the lowest in the last 10 years and will amount to 2.2 mln tonnes compared to 2.45 mln tonnes in MY 2023/24, while the corn planting area in MY 2024/25 decreased by 9% to 484 thsd ha compared to the previous season.

The 2024/25 season will be the third consecutive season when corn yields in the country will be significantly below the average, which may affect future plans for planting this crop. Currently, more than 90% of the country’s corn area is not irrigated, and new investments are coming in very slowly.

According to the FAS, amid the difficult prospects for the MY 2024/25, the country’s farmers almost stopped export sales in July. In general, in MY 2023/24 (as of August 9), corn exports amounted to 693 thsd tonnes (mainly to non-EU countries), compared to 950 thsd tonnes in the same period of MY 2022/23.

At the same time, the FAS experts raised the forecast of barley production in Bulgaria to the record 930 thsd tonnes and left the wheat harvest at 6.9 mln tonnes, which is the same as last year.

“Dry weather allowed to harvest on time and improved the quality of wheat, and the share of milling wheat exceeded 70%, while in MY 2023/24 it did not exceed 50%,” – FAS reports.

Tags: Bulgaria, corn, drought, crop forecast