Paris | Reuters — Crop monitoring service MARS said on Monday it expects the European Union’s average soft wheat yield to reach 5.98 tonnes per hectare this year, five per cent lower than in 2025.
In its first projections for the 2026 harvest, MARS also forecast the EU’s average rapeseed yield at 3.22 t/ha, down three per cent from last year, while for winter barley it put the EU 2026 yield at 5.13 t/ha, ten per cent lower than last year.
Soft wheat is the EU’s most‑produced cereal and rapeseed its main oilseed. Other forecasters also expect lower wheat and rapeseed yields in the EU this year after bumper crops last summer.
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Winter crops across Europe were gradually restarting vegetative growth in generally favourable conditions, supported by adequate soil moisture and mild late-winter temperatures, MARS said in a report.
Excessive rainfall in parts of south-western and eastern Europe caused temporary waterlogging and local flooding, while severe February frost episodes may have caused local damage in parts of Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states, it said.
Emerging precipitation deficits in north‑eastern Europe required monitoring as crops’ water needs will be increasing soon, it added.
