Winter barley is the first crop to be included. Then comes the turn of the wheat. Cultivation of cereals is important in NRW: it takes up about half of the arable land.
Cologne (dpa / lnw) – The first combine harvesters are on the road in North Rhine-Westphalia. The grain harvest has begun. The North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture explained that the start of the harvest was about a week earlier than the long-term average. This year the harvest has not only started in the mild Rhineland, but also in Westphalia. More than half of the approximately 33,000 farms in NRW grow grain, and grain grows on about half of the total arable land. Winter wheat has the largest area.
According to Kammer, the grain got through the winter well, but after the long drought, the harvest prospects are not exactly great. Many areas have not benefited from the rain of the past few days. “It could still be enough for an average harvest across the country,” said chamber spokesman Bernhard Rüb. The course also depends on the weather in the coming weeks. Harvest time can last five weeks or longer, depending on the weather.
