As part of its regular activities, the Monitoring Agricultural ResourceS Unit (MARS) of the European Commission published on 4 August 2010 a forecast for the main crop yields throughout the Union for 2010 and an analysis of the areas most affected by stress conditions. According to the forecast, the total cereal production in 2010 should be close to the average from the last five years, the yield per hectare will be 5% above average, while overall cultivated areas have decreased. In addition to the forecast, the Commission published a Memorandum which provides supplementary information, maps and graphs, as well as crop yields forecast for Russia. The forecast indicated that Russia was threatened by critical weather conditions that will lead to a significant yield reduction, in particular along the Volga River.