SHMU: Early Harvest in Slovakia Begins After Climate-driven Crop Maturation

Bratislava, 12 July (TASR) - This year's harvest in Slovakia has started unusually early due to a combination of climatic factors, the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) announced on its website. According to its operational data, harvesting of winter barley began in the Podunajska nizina area during the second ten-day period of June, while winter oilseed rape and winter wheat harvesting started in the third ten-day period of the month. "At the end of February and the beginning of March, Slovakia experienced a period of significantly above-average air temperatures," SHMU stated, adding that the prolonged warm spell accelerated the development of cereal tillers during March and April. "Since March, markedly below-normal monthly precipitation totals have been recorded at several locations. As a result of the rainfall deficit, soil drought intensified throughout the spring and persisted until June," the institute said. The prolonged soil drought led to uneven crop growth, with field crops lagging behind during April and May. "In some cases, farmers were forced to plough under damaged crops as early as April. The extended period of soil drought, combined with above-average maximum daily temperatures, particularly towards the end of June, resulted in so-called forced ripening of field crops," SHMU added. According to phenometric data, these climatic factors had the greatest negative impact on the height of spring cereal crops. "The average height of spring barley in week 26 of 2026 was below average at several locations, particularly in southern Slovakia, reaching less than 70 centimetres, while the optimum crop height is between 70 and 110 centimetres. The average height of winter wheat reached at least the lower limit of the optimum crop height at several locations," the institute said. Below-average cereal crop heights may therefore indicate lower expected yields. mf