Favorable weather boosts Bulgaria’s crops

Thanks to favorable weather, Bulgaria expects higher production of winter and spring cereals in the 2024-25 marketing year, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said in a report.

The high yields are expected to offset a 4% decline in wheat acreage, with FAS forecasting production at 6.9 million tons, slightly higher than the previous year. Wheat exports are projected to reach 5.2 million tons in the 2023-24 marketing year, which ends June 30. That’s up 60 percent from 4.1 million tons the previous year. Most of this year’s shipments came from countries outside the European Union, FAS said.

The increased interest in barley led to a 36% increase in planted area and a projected 7% increase in production to 850,000 tons, the report said.

“As with wheat, export demand for barley was very strong, and exports were driven by a large crop and record high beginning stocks,” FAS said. “As of May 31, barley exports reached 436,000 tons, more than twice as much as a year ago,” FAS said.

The biggest increase in production is expected for corn, with FAS forecasting a harvest of 2.8 million tons, up from 2.4 million tons in 2023-24. It noted that the EC’s MARS bulletin estimates that average corn yields will rise to 6.6 tons per hectare, up 57% from the previous year and 21% above the five-year average.

In contrast to wheat and barley, corn exports in 2023-24 will drop significantly, by 34% to 900,000 tons.

Tags: Bulgaria, wheat, crop forecast