Due to the bad weather conditions, a very small crop yield is expected. This forecast, however, does not have much significance as the market for emmer is in total rather small. The impact on the prices will therefore not be as strong as feared. Due to the long-term contract farming and the close cooperation with our regional farmers we can keep the prices stable.
Already in 2013, we decided to start with contract farming for emmer again. Our contract farmers are almost all situated within 20 - 30 km from our company site in Ulm. Due to the cooperations and the close network with regional farmers, we strengthen the regional economy and we can provide a consistent transparency on the entire value chain from the breeding and selection of the seeds to the cultivation and processing.
It is now the third year in a row where the cultivation quantities of spelt have been reduced. The overhang from the previous years (caused by a buying restraint / the inflation) are almost used up and the spelt market gained back its original strength. It will be exciting to see if the shown quantities from autumn 2023 will be enough to meet again the increasing demand of spelt products and if the seeds will get safe through the very wet winter.
Concerning oats, it is already clear that we are facing a difficult year. The current year was qualitatively one of the worst oat years that we have ever seen. At the beginning, it was too wet for the sowing and later the persistent drought influenced the quality and the quantity of oats extremely. In addition to the weather problems have the cultivation quantities declined in the past years despite the strong demand for oats. Therefore, this will be the biggest challenge for the cereal sector in the coming years.
Thanks to our long-term contract cultivation for spelt and our mainly regional supply chains we offer a high level of safety and entrepreneurial freedom. As cereal specialist, we are a reliable and secure partner, not only for farmers but also for customers and we always keep an eye on the market developments. Due to our diversified technology, we have the possibility to process cereals to an optimal product.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the cultivation of oats in the crop year 2023/2024 will be clearly below the results of the previous years. While the worldwide quantity of the past years was around or well over 22 million tons, a quantity of 19,4 million tons is expected this year. For comparison: In the previous year we had 25,13 million tons which means that we have to count with a decrease of 23 %.
The European Union is one of the most important producers of oats but also here, a decrease of approx. 20 % is expected. In comparison to other cereals, is oats in Germany in the sixth position of the cultivation area size. Not only is the European Union reducing the oat production. Canada, under the top 3 cultivation countries, will reduce its oat production probably by approx. 50 %.
Due to these circumstances, we highly recommend our customers to secure the needed quantities with a contract.
As innovative cereal specialist with a long tradition, we are choosing each year a cereal type with big potential as our favourite. Deciding factors for this choice are firstly its potential in terms of nutritional values, its application possibilities and the taste and secondly the estimation if in the current year there will be a higher demand for this item in Germany.
In 2023 it was spelt which faced a strong upward trend. In this newsletter, you will learn more about this year’s favourite cereal.
Should you have any further questions or prefer a personal and more detailed conversation, please let us know.
If you have any feedback regarding our newsletters, you are more than welcome to share your suggestions and wishes.
Best regards and have a successful year 2024!
Your sales team Christian Faul | Nadine Stolz | Philipp Frank
Since 2022, we move cereals, which provide a lot of potential, as favourite cereal of the year more into focus. Our favourite cereal for 2024 is the ancient grain Emmer as we see a constant increasing demand for old and native cereal types like Emmer. On one hand, people return more and more to old traditions and values and on the other hand, there is a growing need for more sustainability and naturalness. Due to its long history does Emmer meet the need of many people for natural and pure products. This ancient grain has barely made an appearance in terms of breeding and therefore goes well with an authentic nutrition.
Since 2013, we do have a close collaboration with local farmers who plant Emmer for us again. These contract farmers are situated within 30 km from our company site in Ulm and with the cultivation of this almost forgotten cereal type do the farmers make a valuable contribution to the survival of species and the preservation of biodiversity. Cultivating Emmer can therefore be seen as active protection of the environment.
Emmer, however, looks back to a far longer history. This ancient grain is one of the oldest cultivated cereals. Already around 10.000 before Christ has Emmer been cultivated in the Near East in the area of the so called “Fertile Crescent” (today: Southern Iraq, Northern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan) and in Egypt. At approx. 5.000 before Christ had the ancient grain been cultivated in Germany for the first time and has therefore also here a millennia-old tradition. From the Middle Ages on has Emmer been replaced step by step by more profitable cereal types like e.g. spelt and soft wheat. Today, however, is Emmer due to its positive properties and its unique nut taste a real trend setter again.
Here you can find further product information on Emmer and which products we can offer.
A new year also often brings changes but some things remain the same: As cereal specialist, we are a reliable and secure partner, not only for farmers but also for customers. Due to our diversified technology, we have the possibility to process cereals to an optimal product. This guarantees our farmers a secure partner who buys his quality cereals in any case and processes it to the best possible product. The cooperation with SchapfenMühle means for customers a high level of safety and entrepreneurial freedom due to the save and mostly regional supply chains. We offer a comprehensive product range of flours, cereal flakes, baking premixes, seeds and grains and are known for our innovative products of special cereal types like spelt and emmer wheat. Are you looking for product innovations and raw materials? Please contact us for more information.
It is our aim to provide you on time and throughout the year with the latest information as well as regularly about products or trend topics. Therefore, we will send you our newsletter from this year on regularly in order to keep you up to date with the most important news.
The crop 2023 in Germany is now finished and the first impressions came unfortunately true. From the current newsletter you will learn what this exactly means. We have prepared the most important figures and facts and show you also why emmer is an ancient grain with trend potential. We really hope that you appreciate our newsletters. Our aim is to inform you on time with the latest and most important information and give you some more details on our products or trend topics.
As we have given you at the beginning of September a first impression of this year’s crop, we would like to underpin our thoughts now with figures. The first estimation of approx. 38 million tons came true, which is in fact 4,1 % less than last year. Winter wheat is still the most important cereal with 46 %, cultivated on an area of 2,81 million hectares. The average yield per hectare is 7,4 t. The predicted crop yield is 20,8 million tons and therefore 6 % under the result of last year’s crop. The qualities are rather average due to the extreme weather conditions and the consequences of the fertilization ordinance.
Winter barley, which is number 2 after winter wheat in crop yield and cultivation area, was able to profit from an early harvest maturity. Despite the hot weather, winter barley reached a crop yield of 7,5 t per hectare. Summer barley, which is primarily used for the production of malt, suffered strong fluctuations of cultivation during the last years. Due to the strong interference on the cultivation area (-13,4 %) and significant yield losses (-6,2 %), the crop quantity is reduced by almost 20 % to 1,6 million tons.
This year, more rye had been planted (+6,9 %), but due to a decline of the crop yield (- 6,8 %), the crop quantities reach in total the same level as last year.
Regarding oats, this year will be a very challenging year as already announced in our last newsletter. This is the second year in a row that the cultivation area has been reduced significantly to 141.400 hectares, which corresponds to a minus of 11,7 %. Due to the unfavourable weather conditions, only 3,75 t per hectare were harvested which means a minus of 20,4 %. This led in total to a crop result of 530.400 tons which didn’t match the result of the previous year by almost 30 %. The situation is intensified by extreme quality differences and mills will be forced to correct quality standards downwards in order to secure the supply. Therefore, we have to count with rising prices throughout the season.
The situation with spelt is currently still relaxed. Quantities from the last year, which were not used due to a buying restraint after the pandemic and the increasing inflation, ensure a low price level. Additionally, despite the decline of cultivation area, good crop yields and good qualities provide a good supply for the new season. A change might be visible in the next year as the sowing is dragging on due to the pricing situation and the quantities for the crop 2024/2025 might therefore be less.
Last but not least, here some information about emmer wheat. Due to the fact that we are mainly working with contract farming, we have stable and slightly increasing quantities. We are in general satisfied with the crop and a supply at a stable price level and good qualities is secure.
With this newsletter, we want to focus on emmer wheat which we have successfully added to our product range some years ago. As we have contracts with our farmers, we don’t only promote the biodiversity of cultivated plants but pay an active contribution to the protection of the environment. Another important reason why we have decided to market emmer wheat is that more and more consumers are looking for products from original and pure raw materials. We can therefore proudly say that our emmer wheat products meet this current trend. Similar to spelt has emmer wheat a different composition of the protein gluten which sensitive people might better tolerate. Do you want to know more about emmer wheat?
As cereal specialist, we are a reliable and secure partner, not only for farmes but also for customers. Due to our diversified technology, we have the possibility to process cereals to an optimal product. This guarantees our farmes a secure partner who buys his quality cereals in any case and processes it to the best possible product. The cooperation with SchapfenMühle means for customers a high level of safety and entrepreneurial freedom due to the save and mostly regional supply chains. We offer a comprehensive product range of flours, cereal flakes, baking premixes, seeds and grains and are known for our innovative products of special cereal types like spelt and emmer wheat. You are looking for product innovations and raw materials? Please contact us.
As cereal specialist, we are working since 30 years with more than 250 contract farmers, some of them already in the third generation. This is a reliable connection on which we can trust and count also in bad crop years like 2023. A total number of 600 farmers (approx. 500 with conventional cereals and 100 with organic quality) are supplying us with various cereals. Therefore, we are very close to the producers and want to inform you already early with special information and the latest results of the crop 2023. From this information you can derive your planning for the coming year and make the necessary decisions.
The crop 2023 in Germany is not yet completed, but it is already clear that we will have to count with an unsatisfactory result with regard to the total crop quantity so that we will presumably reach the same level as 2018. The final estimation of the sector insiders, e. g. the farmers association, is not yet available but from discussions with our farmers and other companies of the sector, we must count with a total crop quantity of less than 40 million tons. In addition to the poor crop yield, we will also have to face inferior quality. The reasons therefore are manifold. The long rain period during the main crop phase didn't only affect the quantity but the quality of the cereals in particular. While barley as the first cereal to be harvested could be threshed almost without problems, wheat suffered from rain so that the quantity will, from our point of view, lay significantly below the quantities of the previous years. Not only SchapfenMühle but all mills will therefore face big challenges in order to supply the customers with flour of a good and constant baking quality. The crop phase with drought and rain in alternation have demanded much of the farmers this year. It is increasingly clear that the real climate change must be counteracted with appropriate strategies. This includes the cultivation of special grain varieties, water-saving and conservation-oriented soil cultivation and a systematic watering. How the crop will affect the prices, is not clear yet as the price pressure of the Ukrainian wheat has an impact on the German market already while countries in Africa and other emerging countries are cut-off from supply.
With oats we have a similar situation, as the crop and vegetation period 2023 had also an unfavourable effect on this cereal. Oats belong to the summer cereals and are usually planted in spring which was this year strongly influenced by a long rain period in March and April which continued until May. Therefore oats were planted with delay and almost immediately afterwards followed a drought so that this cereal type suffered extremely in quantity as well as in quality. Additonally, we had in Germany a reduced cultivation area this year and strong oat countries like Sweden, Denmark and the Baltic region also expect a clearly different crop. The consequence is a restraint in sales right up to a standstill of business activity. The uncertainty of the oat suppliers won, as no one knows yet how much oats will be harvested in 2023. The qualities are also quite heterogenous and differ from region to region. Nevertheless, we expect that we can count on stable prices for oats this year.
As cereal specialist, we are a reliable and secure partner, not only for farmes but also for customers. Due to our diversified technology, we have the possibility to process cereals to an optimal product. This guarantees our farmes a secure partner who buys his quality cereals in any case and processes it to the best possible product. The cooperation with SchapfenMühle means for customers a high level of safety and entrepreneurial freedom due to the save and mostly regional supply chains. We offer a comprehensive product range of flours, cereal flakes, baking premixes, seeds and grains and are known for our innovative products of special cereal types like spelt and emmer wheat. You are looking for product innovations and raw materials?
