Poor harvest of bread wheat in 2024 – industry wants more imports
Published: Thursday, Sep 5th 2024, 18:40
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Due to the wet spring and early summer, the 2024 harvest of bread wheat and barley will be a third lower than in the previous year. The industry organization Swissgranum is requesting additional import volumes. It is also calling for exceptional approval for lower quality standards for bread grain.
The organization bases its harvest forecast on feedback from 30 collection points at the end of August, as Swissgranum announced on Thursday. These collection centers represent 42 percent of the barley market and 60 percent of the bread wheat market.
In addition to the lower harvest volume, the fields were also affected by mold, depending on the region. Quality parameters such as hectoliter weight were also affected. The harvests varied greatly from region to region.
According to the August survey, the industry is expecting a one-third reduction in the grain harvest. However, the takeover of bread grain was only 95% complete at the time of the survey.
Several measures
Swissgranum is taking various measures based on this initial harvest assessment. For example, the industry association is applying to the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) to bring forward the release of the last part of the import quota for bread grain from November to October. The FOAG is also to increase the tariff quota for bread grain by 20,000 tons at the beginning of November.
The industry is demanding an exemption from the Swissness quality standard for high-protein wheat until June 2025. This request comes from the umbrella organization of Swiss millers. With these measures, the market can be supplied with bread grain, wrote Swissgranum.
According to the press release, it is too early to make a final judgment on the quality of the harvest. The results will not be available until October. The association will make a new assessment of the situation at the end of October.
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