A period of unusually warm weather in Europe could impact crops in the months ahead, according to a monthly update by the European Union (EU)’s crop monitoring service, reported by AgriCensus.
Winter crops and grasslands were in good condition across much of Europe with limited frost damage to date, the January report by Monitoring Agriculture Resources (MARS) said.
A rapid rise in temperatures at the end of the year with record-breaking New Year’s Eve temperatures (locally surpassing +20°C) in eastern France, Germany, Poland and the alpine regions had initiated a de-hardening period and melted snowpack over agricultural areas, the 23 January report said.
While winter cereals in the Baltic countries, Russia and Scandinavia were almost fully hardened, those in most other parts of Europe were only partially hardened at the time of the report.
This de-hardening process leads to a higher vulnerability in case of new cold spells, according to the report, with alternating freeze/thaw cycles damaging plants, leading to weakened strength and spring regrowth.
Mild winter conditions were also associated with high pest and disease survival rates, which could lead to increased pressure later in the season, the report said.
Warm temperatures also saw snowpacks in the Alps reach historic lows and if not restored, water availability for irrigation downstream would become problematic in the months ahead.
Weather forecasts expected conditions would be mainly influenced by transitioning large-scale atmospheric processes and a weakening La Niña.
Much warmer-than-usual air temperatures were forecast for the Balkan Peninsula, Eastern Europe and most of Scandinavia, while colder-than-usual daily air temperatures were expected in large parts of France.
