The European Union corn crop received two upgrades in one day, with US officials raising their estimate to 63.9m tonnes, hours after industry group Coceral came in with an even higher estimate.

The US Department of Agriculture lifted its forecast for the EU corn harvest - which is expected in 2011-12 to overtake Brazil's as the world's third biggest - by 1.0m tonnes, putting the yield at a record 7.27 tonnes per hectare.

The result reflected the reversal of the spring drought "when widespread heavy rains covered much of western and central Europe in June and July", USDA analyst Bryan Purcell said.

"While these rains hampered and delayed the winter wheat harvest, they promoted vegetative growth in the corn plants, enabling the record yield."

The rain had been "particularly beneficial in areas of central Europe like Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, where summer dryness develops more frequently than on the coast, and where much of the crop is not irrigated".

Higher still?

The 63.9m-tonne harvest ranks as the EU's second best on USDA data, behind a record 66.5m tonnes set six years ago on a higher acreage.

And, according to Coceral, the USDA figure may still be an underestimate.

The Brussels-based industry group itself upgraded the corn harvest to 65.2m tonnes, coming in with higher numbers for the French and, in particular, Romanian crops.

It estimated the average yield at 7.38 tonnes per hectare.

Spain vs UK

The Coceral revisions came in a report in which it hiked by 5.2m tonnes, to 284.3m tonnes, its forecast for the EU grains harvest, representing higher forecasts for most crops.

The EU wheat harvest, the world's biggest, was pegged at 137.6m tonnes including durum, just 110,000 tonnes higher than the USDA estimate.

The revised data returned the UK to fourth rank among grain producers, with a 1.5m tonnes upgrade to 21.7m tonnes in the output estimate, putting the country back above Spain in the rankings.

Wetter weather helped Spain to strong yields of crops such as barley and corn, reducing the country's need for feed imports for its substantial livestock operations.

The harvest in the UK, a major exporter to Spain, turned out far better than had expected during a spring drought.