14.07.2021 (www.nasdaq.com) - HAMBURG, July 14 (Reuters) - Germany's 2021 wheat harvest of all types will increase 3.2% on the year to 22.80 million tonnes although some crops have suffered from a recent heatwave, the country's association of farm cooperatives said on Wednesday.

The association forecast Germany's 2021 winter rapeseed crop will rise 4.7% from last summer’s crop to 3.68 million tonnes.

The wheat harvest was down from the 22.98 million tonnes forecast by the association in June but rapeseed was up from the 3.67 million tonnes in the June forecast.

The reason for the reduced wheat estimate was the early summer heatwave which stressed crops in some eastern regions with light soils, it said.

Rain in past weeks arrived just in time to enable most wheat to finish its development before this summers harvest, it said. But wheat yields in some eastern regions are expected to have suffered heat damage.

Germany is the European Union’s second largest wheat producer after France and in many years the EU’s largest producer of rapeseed, Europe’s main oilseed for edible oil and biodiesel production.

Harvesting of Germany’s winter barley crop, mostly used for animal feed, has started but has been repeatedly interrupted by rain.

The winter barley crop will increase 1.3% on the year to 8.87 million tonnes, the association said. This was down from its June forecast of 9.03 million tonnes.

Rain is disrupting barley harvesting and dry weather is needed for barley to dry out. But this week is forecast to remain rainy, which is a threat to barley crop quality.

If the rainy weather continues, barley harvest work could be long and difficult, it said.

The spring barley crop, used in beer and malt production, will fall 17.5% to 1.64 million tonnes, it said. The grain maize (corn) crop will fall 5.0% to 3.80 million tonnes.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Louise Heavens)

((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 172 671 36 54; Reuters Messaging: michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))