2.6 Western Europe

This monitoring period covers the vegetative growth period of winter wheat in the Western European Major Production Zone (MPZ).  Sowing of the summer crops started in March. Overall, crop conditions were generally favorable in most parts of MPZ based on the integration of agroclimatic and agronomic indicators (figure 2.5).

The whole MPZ showed a slight drop in RAIN (-2% below average) and small disparities among the major agricultural production areas. However, there were spatio-temporal differences. They can be characterized as follows (1) Precipitation was below average in most areas in January, with the exception of the United Kingdom, the western part of Bretagne and Normandie in France, and the northwestern part of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany  in mid-January; (2) 59.3 percent of MPZ areas experienced above-average precipitation from February to early-March in addition to Spain, Italy, Hungary, south-central France, southern Czech Republic, eastern Austria and south-western Slovakia; (3) Precipitation was below average in most parts of MPZ areas (mainly in the United Kingdom, Denmark, most parts of France, most parts of Germany, most parts of the Czech Republic, western Austria), while areas with above-average precipitation accounted for only about 40.7% of the main producing areas in late April. Countries with the most severe precipitation deficit included Italy (RAIN -43%), Hungary (RAIN -34%), Slovakia (RAIN -24%), Czech Republic (RAIN -13%), while two countries had above normal precipitation: Denmark (RAIN +31%) and UK (RAIN +13%). More rain is needed in the coming months to raise soil moisture levels, and create favorable conditions for the growth of winter and summer crops.

Temperature (TEMP) for the MPZ as a whole was significantly above average (TEMP +1.5°C), and radiation also was above average with RADPAR at +5%. During the entire monitoring period, most areas experienced warmer-than-usual conditions, and related reports suggest that the monitoring period was the warmest since 1979 in parts of this MPZ, while below-average temperature mostly occurred in (1) United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, most parts of Spain in early and mid-January; (2) The entire MPZ in late March. Due to suitable temperature and high sunshine conditions for the MPZ, the biomass accumulation potential BIOMSS was 2% above average. The lowest BIOMSS values (-20% and below) occurred in Austria, Italy, and Spain. In contrast, BIOMSS was above average (sometimes exceeding a 10% departure) for France, UK, Germany, Denmark and Hungary. The average maximum VCI for the MPZ reached 0.91.

A total of 97% of arable land was cropped (i.e. 2% above average) in the whole MPZ. The area of uncultivated arable land was mainly located in Spain, south-eastern France, northern Italy and central Austria, where it might be affected by the COVID-19.

Generally, the conditions of winter crops in the MPZ were above average. However, more rain will be needed in several important crop production areas to ensure an adequate soil moisture supply for the crops.

Figure 2.5. Western EuropeMPZ: Agro-climatic and agronomic indicators, January to April 2020.

a. Spatial distribution of rainfall profiles              b. Profiles of rainfall departure from average (mm)

c. Spatial distribution of temperature profiles     d. Profiles of temperature departure from average (mm)

e. Maximum VCI

f. Cropped arable land

g. Biomass accumulation potential departure

h. VHI minimum