No wheat to eat in Europe? Heavy rains kill grain yield, may lead to rise in prices

Climate change-induced record rainfall has battered wheat crops in the United Kingdom as well as neighbouring France, the largest producer of the essential grain item. With wheat supply from Ukraine — another big wheat producer in the region — already short due to the ongoing Russian offensive now in its 28th month, the prices are expected to rise significantly this year.

Heavy rainfall since last autumn prevented farmers from sowing wheat and led to massive damage to yield in the UK and France. 

“After the UK’s record-breaking wet winter hit crops here, farmers in France are now contending with the impacts of ceaseless rains this spring,” Tom Lancaster, land, food and farming analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) was quoted as saying by the Financial Times. 

“France is Europe’s biggest grower of wheat, and with harvests in the UK anticipated to be down by up to a fifth due to heavy rains here that were made worse by climate change, there is a real risk that a poor harvest in France could drive up prices.”

According to a recent study by the World Weather Attribution, rainfall throughout last autumn and winter in the UK and Ireland was around 20 per cent more as a result of climate change due to human activities. 

The researchers also estimated that the frequency of such heavy rainfall equipped to damage crop yields, is around 10 times more likely due to climate change. 

According to the Financial Times, of all the commodities that agricultural hedge fund Farrer Capital looks at, “wheat is the one that is the tightest in terms of supply relative to demand,” as per its CEO and founder Adam Davis.

“We have seen drought in South Africa roll into drought in Russia, to frost in Russia, to Ukraine saying some areas are the driest they’ve been in 30 years, to drought in parts of Australia,” he said. “[Climate events] are happening everywhere, seemingly at the same time or one after the other.”

This article has been republished from The Wion News.