Bulletin

wall bulletin
Western EuropeCrop and environmental conditions in major production zones

Authors: zhuweiwei | Edit: lirui

2.6 Western Europe

This monitoring period covers the key growing and harvesting periods of mainly wheat, maize, potatoes and sugarbeet grown in the Western European Major Production Zone (MPZ), as well as the sowing period of winter crops (mainly winter wheat, winter barley and rye). In the northern half of the MPZ, most of the crops are rain-fed, while in the southern part, the crops are mainly a combination of rain-fed and irrigated ones. Therefore, agroclimatic conditions significantly affect the growth of crops in this region. Generally, due to the favourable precipitation and suitable temperature conditions, crop conditions were above average in most parts of this MPZ during the monitoring period based on the interpretation of agroclimatic and agronomic indicators monitored by Cropwatch (Fig.2.6). However, frequent rainfall in July and August created challenging conditions for wheat harvest in some regions. It also negatively affected grain quality, as wet conditons in combination with lodging cause sprouting of the grains.

CropWatch agronomic indicators show that during the monitoring period, the Crop Production Index (CPI) in the MPZ of Western Europe was 1.01, slightly lower than the the past 5YA average (ΔCPI -0.04). It followed the same increasing trend as that of the previous two years, During this monitoring stage, the Crop Production Situation Index continued to improve. It was 0.12 and 0.04 higher than that of the same period last year and two years ago, respectively. The average maximum VCI for the MPZ reached a value of 0.89, and the spatial distribution shows that the areas with maximum VCI values below 0.5 were concentrated in a small number of areas in central Spain and southern Italy; the areas where the maximum VCI values ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 were mainly distributed in the western and eastern regions of Spain; in most of the remaining areas, the maximum VCI values were above 0.8. Among them, the vegetation conditions were the best in most areas of northern Spain and a small number of areas in eastern and southern France, with the maximum VCI values all above 1.0. About 91% of arable land was cropped, which was 1% higher than the recent 5YA average in the whole MPZ. The uncropped areas of arable land were mainly located in central Spain and southern Italy, with sporadic distribution in the UK, France and Germany. The average VHI minimum for the MPZ was 0.38 during the current reporting period, indicating that the overall crop growth in this area was affected by drought to some extent during the monitoring period. The VHI minimum map shows that the drought situation was relatively serious in central Spain and in southern and northern Italy. Most areas of the UK, France and Germany were affected by short-term drought, which is also consistent with the spatial distribution of regions with values below 0.5 in the spatial distribution map of maximum VCI. Cropping intensity reached 131%, which was up by 1% compared to the five-year-average across the MPZ.

CropWatch agroclimatic indicators show that adequate precipitation continued from the last monitoring period, and the rainfall in this MPZ was above the 15YA by 26.5%. According to the spatial distribution of rainfall profiles, during this monitoring period, in most areas of France, the southern parts of the UK and Germany, and the northern part of Italy, that is, in the areas covering about 33.2% of the MPZ (green areas in Fig.2.6a), the precipitation was relatively abundant, and the cumulative precipitation fluctuated around the average value. Except for the whole month of July, the first ten days of August and the middle of September, in most areas of Spain, the southern part of France, the northern part of the UK and a small number of areas in Italy, which accounted for about 12.2% of the MPZ (orange areas in Fig.2.6a), the precipitation was higher than the average level. In a small number of areas in the northern part of Italy and the southern part of France, which accounted for about 4.8% of the MPZ (blue areas in Fig.2.6a), except for the last ten days of July, the first ten days of August and the middle of September, the precipitation was also higher than the average level, and there were obvious peaks of precipitation anomalies in the middle of August, the first ten days of September and the middle of October. In the first ten days of September, precipitation even reached more than 150 mm. In most areas of Germany, the eastern part of the UK, the northern parts of France and Spain, and a small number of areas in the southern part of Italy, which covered about 49.8% of the MPZ (dark green areas in Fig.2.6a), the precipitation was lower than the average level except for the first ten days of July, the first and last ten days of September and the first ten days of October. The UK (ΔRAIN -5%) experienced a slight precipitation deficit, but the in the other regions, it was relatively abundant. In particular, the precipitation in Italy (ΔRAIN +45%), France (ΔRAIN +39%) and Spain (ΔRAIN +32%) was significantly higher than the average level. 

This MPZ experienced above average temperatures (ΔTEMP +0.5 ℃), and lower solar radiation conditions (ΔRADPAR -2%). As shown in the spatial distribution of temperature profiles, the average temperature fluctuated around the average level in most areas of the UK and the northeastern part of France as well as a small number of areas in Spain (red areas in Fig.2.6b). Except for the first ten days of July, the middle of September and the first ten days of October, the average temperature in most areas of Germany, the eastern part of France, and the northern, central and southern regions of Italy, it was significantly higher than the average level of the past 15YA (green and dark green areas in Fig.2.6b). In most areas of Spain, the average temperature was significantly higher than the average level except in September (blue areas in Fig.2.6b). During the monitoring period, in small pockets in Spain, France and Italy, the average temperature was also significantly higher than the average level during the monitoring period except for the middel of September, when it was slightly lower than the average leve (orange areas in Fig.2.6b). 

Due to the combined effect of abundant precipitation and warmer average temperatures, the potential BIOMSS was 9% above the 5YA average. The Biomass accumulation potential departure showed that the lowest BIOMSS values (-20% and less) were mainly distributed in a small number of areas in northern Spain and southern Italy. On the contrary, BIOMSS in most areas of France and Germany, the southern parts of the UK and Germany, central Spain and northern Italy was more than 10% higher than the average level of the 5YA average. 

Overall, the conditions of crops in the MPZ were mostly above or close to the average. The exception was Spain, where severe drought conditions adversely affected crop yields.


Figure 2.6 Western Europe: Agroclimatic and agronomic indicators, July -October 2024.

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

c. Spatial distribution of temperature profiles                      d. Profiles of temperature depature from average (℃) 

e. Maximum VCI

f. Cropped and uncropped arable land 

g. VHI Minimum


h. Potential biomass departure from 5YA

i. Crop Production index time series chart

j. Cropping intensity, November 2023-October, 2024