The season just gone has been a difficult one for Latvian grain farming, and in many places downright dramatic, laying bare the effects of climatic and economic conditions that have built up over the past three years. While 2025 in the global market has been characterised by record grain harvests and falling prices, the fields of Latvia show the opposite reality. Excessive moisture and weather-related problems affected cereals, oilseed rape and pulses alike, reducing both yields and quality. It is already clear that this season will also shape 2026 – in many areas the share of spring crops will rise, yield potential will remain lower, and quality will depend on the spring and summer weather. To be better prepared for the next season, restoring soil fertility, protecting crops and other sustainable practices are becoming ever more important.
The season was defined above all by persistently high moisture levels, which had prevailed across Latvia since the spring and culminated in the government's decision of 5 August 2025 to declare a state of emergency in agriculture. Waterlogged soil caused uneven emergence, held back root system development, and crops suffered from both oxygen deficiency and soil compaction. Heavy rainfall did direct damage to grain quality – falling number, protein and specific weight in wheat and barley deteriorated significantly, while oilseed rape seed lost oil content and began to germinate. Peas and beans also ripened unevenly, the pods split, and the harvest "shed in the field".
Adverse weather is changing next year's choice of crops
To reduce the risks caused by the wet conditions, farmers had to change their cropping structure. Flooded fields limited the scope for fieldwork, so most farmers cut back their winter crop areas. As a result, a large share of that land may have to be resown next season with spring crops, which brings additional risks in changeable weather and lowers expected yield potential. It is notable that oilseed rape areas have shrunk particularly sharply, as it is one of the crops that reacts sensitively to excessive moisture. At the same time pulses, although strategically valuable for improving soil fertility, continue to see considerable yield instability – average yields are falling and quality increasingly fails to meet market requirements.
The economising effect
Yet the climate is not the only factor determining crop quality. Over the past three years a pronounced "economising effect" has been evident in Latvian agriculture. The sharp rise in the prices of mineral fertilisers and plant protection products in 2022–2023 forced farmers to reduce the amounts they used, and that trend continues today. In recent years crops have been receiving fewer nutrients than they need to build high yield potential. This is reflected both in protein levels in wheat and in the quality of oilseed rape and pulse harvests. It can therefore be concluded that the country's yield potential has fallen systematically – crops are less resistant to disease, stress and extreme weather, and as a result of recent years a shortage of nutrients in the soil is also becoming apparent.
Global market pressure
The domestic situation is being made still more acute by developments on the global market. While rain has been ruining the harvest in Latvia, total world grain supply continues to grow. Australia, Argentina and other regions have recorded large, good-quality harvests, which is putting downward pressure on prices. Wheat prices on the MATIF exchange, for example, continued to fall this year and were among the lowest of the past 10 years. The high point – €245.74/t – was reached on 19 February, and the low – €185/t – on 1 October. Over the year the price fell by almost €60, or around 25%. And given that Latvian grain quality this year more often meets feed requirements rather than food standards, farmers find themselves in an unfavourable position. Currency movements too, particularly the strengthening of the euro against the US dollar, reduce Latvian exporters' scope for securing more competitive prices on world markets.
Cooperation and precision agriculture
Although there is no shortage of challenges, several favourable trends are also emerging. Farmers' interest in sustainable technologies, soil fertility restoration and precision solutions is gradually growing. These are areas in which agricultural companies, including "Linas Agro", are actively working and investing in order to give farms practical support. Such cooperation is also important in changeable conditions, so as to manage risks more effectively and prepare for a stronger season ahead.
The 2025 season shows that the grain farming sector in Latvia is in a zone of transition and risk, given the pressure of the global market and the volume of rainfall for which farmers were not prepared. This season's challenges will affect the sector next year as well – the area under spring crops will increase, yield potential will decrease, and spring and summer rainfall will play a decisive role. At the same time, the growing interest in sustainable practices and precision solutions provides grounds for cautious but well-founded optimism.