Belgian grain harvest also much smaller
As in most neighbouring countries, the grain harvest in Belgium was much smaller due to the extremely bad weather in the autumn and early 2024. The production of winter wheat is 30% smaller than last season at 1.215 million tons, while winter barley with 337,400 tons, more than 10% less, has been harvested.
This is stated in the preliminary agricultural estimates from the statistical service StatBel. For maize, the total production is 4% higher at 664,600 tons, but this is entirely due to a larger area than in 2023. The yield per hectare for this crop was also 13% smaller than in the previous season. For smaller crops, spelt wheat is 34% lower at 33,500 tons, while triticale is harvested 29% less at 24,400 tons.
Rain the culprit
Due to the persistent heavy rainfall in the autumn, the area sown with grains was the smallest since 1999. The rain also continued in the spring and resulted in flooding in many agricultural areas, which also caused yields per hectare to be severely disappointing.
Belgian arable farmers, like their colleagues in neighbouring countries, resorted to spring grains. For example, the spring wheat harvest was 237% larger at 33,700 tons, while spring barley was harvested 43% more at 22,000 tons. However, these yields were not nearly enough to sufficiently compensate for the shortages in winter crops.
