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“I expect average grain crops this year, since it has been raining on our side during the entire week,” says farmer Henrikas Bertulis from Northern Lithuania Biržai District. However, other agriculture professionals are much more optimistic about the prospective above-average yields. Even though last year's record of grain exports worth LTL 1.5 billion (EUR 435 million) will probably not be topped, 2013 might well be the second most productive year for Lithuanian agriculture since 1990.

In 2012, Lithuanian farmers reported record-high yields of 4.7 million tons of grain. This year's estimates put the number 8 percent lower, at 4.3 million tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Yet, such a result would still feature well above the long-time average score, which stand at 2.5 million tons.

Lithuania's domestic market claims, on average, 800 thousand tons of wheat annually, so the rest goes for exports. Last year, grain exports amounted to LTL 1.5 billion, or EUR 435 million. Lithuania is among European leaders in terms of wheat export to domestic consumption ratio.

Lithuania's biggest processor of wheat is starch manufacturer Amilina. The company is expanding rapidly – last year it processed 240 thousand tons of wheat, this year's projections are 300 thousand, and next year, almost half a million. Amilina exports 98 percent of starch it makes.

“Lithuania is rich in competitive raw stocks, so we are ambitious. We invest into our plant. We will be producing glucose and other syrups for the food industry,” says Mindaugas Gedvilas, CEO of Amilina.

He believes that 2013 might well be the second-best year for wheat farmers in Lithuania's history. Gedvilas is unperturbed by plummeting prices in global markets.

“We make money from the processing margin, which is stable. If wheat prices go down, they do so in Lithuania and France alike. That means that our competitors in France buy cheaper wheat as well and offers their production more cheaply. If they lower their starch price, so must we,” Gedvilas says.

He also believes that this year's harvest will be of a better quality than last year.

“At this point, any talks about quality are nothing else but fortune-telling. We must wait until we harvest at least one fifth of our crops before we can say anything for certain,” he comments on diverging opinions regarding wheat quality.

See full text at: http://www.15min.lt/en/article/business/mother-nature-favours-lithuanian-grain-farmers-who-expect-second-best-crop-in-years-527-357901#ixzz2aibbMNrG