Grain Harvest in Germany May Slump 12% After Drought, Flooding Hits Crops!

• It doesn’t look good for the world. We are rapidly heading towards global famine. Let us hope all these problems will be over in a month or two. Otherwise, it will make price increases ala 2007/8 look mild.
   
  Grain Harvest in Germany May Slump 12% After Drought, Flooding Hits Crops
  Germany, the European Union’s second-biggest wheat grower, will likely follow Russia in reporting a slump in grain harvests this year after crops were stricken by both drought and flooding, a farmers group said.
   
  Grain harvests will fall to 43.9 million tons in 2010 from 49.7 million tons last year, the DBV German Farmers Association said today in an e-mailed statement. Prices for some grains have increased, including wheat for making bread, which has risen to 181 euros ($230) a ton from 107 euros in March.
   
  Like many European countries, Germany experienced record temperatures of almost 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) accompanied by drought in June and July, followed by heavy rains in August, the DBV said. Russia declared a drought emergency in 32 crop-producing regions this month and slashed its grain crop forecast to 60 million to 65 million metric tons because of water scarcity.
   
  Showers are expected in Russia, Kazakhstan and East Ukraine up to Aug. 29, helping to replenish soil moisture for planting winter wheat in northern areas, Telvent DTN Inc. said in a forecast yesterday. Russia’s ban on shipments helped drive wheat to a 23-month high on Aug. 6.
   
  This year’s harvest in Germany is also affected by “losses in quality” because grains ripened too early and then were drenched by rains. Most farmers won’t benefit from the higher prices because they signed contracts before the price increases, Klaus Kliem, chairman of the DBV committee for grain, said in the statement.

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