Warmer-than-expected temperatures stunt EU wheat crop development

Higher-than-expected temperatures across much of the EU have prevented crucial hardening, the European Union’s crop monitoring unit said in its monthly update published Monday.

According to MARS, only parts of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine have seen significant hardening, while in the EU only patchy occurrences can be found in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia.

Hardening is the process by which crops develop tolerance to freezing conditions before entering a period of winter dormancy.

One positive effect of the warmer weather has been an almost complete absence of frost kill so far. However, the current situation was described as “precarious,” with the potential for significant future frost kill due to a lack of snow cover.

JRC MARS noted it saw little potential for frost kill was “for the coming days.”