Harvest year

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A crop year (engl. Harvest year, crop year ) is the period of an agricultural harvesting until the next harvest. In the middle latitudes it is mostly a calendar year . In other climatic zones , however, several harvests can be brought in in one calendar year. In this case there are then two or more harvest years in one calendar year. If you change the focus of attention from an economic zone to the global situation, then there are several harvests per year even with fruits of the middle latitudes, one each in the southern and one in the northern hemisphere of the earth. There is often no specific harvest time for agricultural products from the tropics, because the fruit can be harvested all year round.

Complex is the definition when various plants are cultivated in a field, or a major and a minor crop is cultivated, ie when in the season cereals , legumes or oil crops are grown, and a post-harvest intermediate crop is grown. In this case, the harvest year is the period from the completion of the harvest of the previous crop and the start of stubble cultivation to the completion of the harvest of the following crop.

In greenhouse cultivation, the harvest year is completely irrelevant, as the fruit can be harvested in constant quantities throughout the year. At the same time, this form of agriculture is initially reserved for comparatively high-quality fruits, for which freshness is an essential factor in marketing.

statistics

The definition of the harvest year is established for statistical purposes in an economy as a whole. There are differences from country to country, but there can also be different harvest years within a country. In the European Union , the harvest year is defined as The term “harvest year” refers to the calendar year in which the harvest begins. If the harvest times shift in the long term, for example due to climate changes, then the statistical harvest year may also be redefined.

Economical meaning

Since the beginning of agriculture , a harvest has to be kept for supply until the next harvest becomes available. Agriculture was also based on technologies for medium-term storage of food, for example through drying , silage and similar processes. Even today, a large part of the grain harvest has to be stored, which makes it necessary to plan storage space in silos accordingly . Other agricultural products, such as potatoes or apples, must be stored in CA warehouses if they cannot be converted into more durable products in a timely manner, such as juice concentrate, potato starch , etc.

Naturally, the high supply during the harvest has a lowering effect on prices, while these can rise until the end of the harvest year. As the harvest year progresses, supply will decrease and storage costs will add up, generally increasing prices. The substitution of the harvests of one economic region by the harvests of other economic regions, for example wheat from the USA (harvest year late June to early June) and Australia (harvest year late January to early February) accounts for a large part of international trade in agricultural products. With the increasing internationalization of trade, the overall view had to be expanded. In the case of exchange-traded goods such as wheat and soy in particular , the price effects are additionally influenced by trading in futures contracts and options .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Crop Year in the Glossary of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; accessed on November 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b What is a harvest year? on www.pckarl.net; accessed on November 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Appendix II to measures 4–8 ; Soil construction and cultural measures on the website of the Department of Economics; accessed on November 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ Harvest year on RAMON - Reference And Management Of Nomenclatures of the European Union according to European Union, Regulation (EC) No. 543/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 18, 2009 on the statistics of crop production and on the repeal of the regulations (EEC ) No. 837/90 and (EEC) No. 959/93 of the Council .