France sees higher soft wheat area, sugar beet shrinks further
France expects soft wheat area to rise 2.6% to 4.61 million hectares for 2026, while sugar beet planting declines amid weak prices. Rapeseed area is set to grow strongly, reflecting better returns, as farmers shift away from less profitable crops like sugar beet and spring barley.
PARIS: France’s farm ministry said on Tuesday it expects the area planted with soft wheat, the country’s main cereal crop, to reach 4.61 million hectares for this year’s harvest, up 2.6percent from last year, and in line with the five-year average.
It slightly cut its estimate for winter wheat to 4.58 million hectares, below the 4.59 million projected in February and 0.4percent below average.
Favourable autumn weather had raised expectations that the soft wheat area would hold steady, despite falling prices. In an initial forecast, the ministry estimated France’s sugar beet area for this year’s harvest at 379,000 hectares, down 4.6percent from the area harvested in 2025 and 4.9percent below the five-year average.
Farmers across Europe have increasingly turned away from sugar beet amid a slump in sugar prices that has led to factory closures in recent years.
The ministry maintained its forecast for the 2026 winter barley area at 1.26 million hectares, up 5.9percent year on year. However, it estimated spring barley plantings at 501,000 hectares, a 16percent decline compared with 2025/26.
The ministry estimated that the area devoted to rapeseed, France’s main oilseed crop, would rise to 1.38 million hectares, up 9percent year on year.
Analysts have anticipated an increase in rapeseed planting in France and Europe citing more favourable prices compared to cereals, as well as strong yields in last summer’s harvest.
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Source : Business Recorder
