The EU cereals crop for the 2014/2015 marketing year is estimated to be a bumper one, up 6.1% on last year.

Member states at the Copa-Cogeca Cereal Working Party indicated a good harvest across the EU of around 317.7 million tonnes. The bumper crop is partly the result of good weather in the growing season, but some members warned that the quality may be down in their countries.

Max Schulman, Copa-Cogeca chairman of the Working Party (Finland), said: “We need to examine whether they are adequate and what improvements can be made. We also need to ensure farmers have a good tool box at their disposal, such as disease-resistant plants, new and better varieties, research and development, good plant protection products. The phasing out of pesticides is hitting the sector badly, which is particularly serious when we need to increase production to meet growing world food demand set to rise by 60% by 2050.”

He highlighted the need to have good infrastructures in place across the EU in order to transport the larger volumes of grain and store in properly.