European Union’s crop monitor raised its outlook for 2017 maize as rain helped crops in countries such as France and Germany and offset the impact of drought and heatwaves elsewhere. In a monthly report, the MARS service put the EU grain maize yield at 6.99 tonnes per hectare (t/ha), up from 6.93 t/ha estimated in August. This was 1.4 percent above the average level of the past five years, although 2.2 percent lower than the 2016 yield.