Arable farming: warmer years better than wet years
Despite heat and drought, arable farming was more profitable in 2018 than in the wet year of 2016, according to an analysis of contribution margins for wheat, canola, sunflowers, potatoes and sugar beets.
The years 2014 to 2018 were characterized by extreme weather conditions for arable farming from an agronomic perspective. While 2017 and 2018 were warm and dry, 2016 saw more rain than usual. How this affected the success of wheat, rapeseed, sunflowers, potatoes and sugarbeet was analyzed using the contribution margins from the Central Analysis of Accounting Data.
Different cultures
Despite the heat and drought, 2018 can be described as an average year in terms of contribution margins in a five-year comparison. The wet year 2016, on the other hand, led to a drop in yields for wheat, potatoes and sugar beet and thus to lower contribution margins. Canola is less negatively affected by wetter years. Sunflowers even benefit from the warmth and dryness. In general, warmer and drier weather tends to benefit the growing conditions of arable crops.
Within the wheat and canola crops, the success of the different cultivation methods can also be compared. In the average year 2018, organic wheat achieved the highest contribution margins, while in conventional cultivation, extenso wheat was more profitable than non-extenso wheat. For canola, the extenso method also performed better than non-extenso cultivation, and the difference is even more pronounced than for wheat.
Dierk Schmid: "Arable farming: warmer years better than wet years : contribution margins of wheat, oilseed rape, sunflower, potato, and sugar beet (2014-2018)."
