Benign weather has prompted German grain farmers to raise their forecasts for this year's harvest to 47.4m tonnes, in a reverse of the waning hopes in many other European countries.

While short of the 49.8m tonnes produced in last year's bumper harvest, the latest forecast from association of German farming co-operatives represents a 700,000-tonne improvement on last month's estimate.

The association credited the upgrade to better weather, which should see the important winter wheat crop come in at 25.7m tonnes, 200,000 tonnes more than it hoped for a month ago.

Many nearby countries, including Spain and much of Eastern Europe, have curbed hopes for wheat because of dry weather.

Crop details

The association estimates Germany's rapeseed harvest at 5.30m tonnes, up 100,000 tonnes on last year, thanks to an increase in plantings.

Increased acreage is also credited for a 160,000 tonne rise to 9.52m tonnes in production of winter barley, which is used mainly in animal feed.

However, output of spring barley, the type mainly used by brewers, is forecast to fall 19.3% to 2.09m tonnes because of a drop in plantings.

Germany is Europe's second-largest producer, behind France, of both cereals and oilseeds.