French wheat harvest slow after persistent rain
France’s wheat harvest is severely delayed due to persistent rain, with only 4% of the soft wheat area harvested, compared to 26% last year and a 5-year average of 19%. The country is on course for one of its worst harvests in decades, with the agriculture ministry forecasting a 15% drop in production to 29.7 million metric tons. Market estimates are even lower, with some predicting production below 27.6 million metric tons. Poor yields for winter barley have also fueled concerns, with a 20-25% drop in yields observed by Soufflet Agriculture.
The wheat harvest in France, the European Union’s top producer, showed little progress last week as persistent rain put the country on course for one of its worst harvests in decades.
Just 4% of the soft wheat area had been harvested by Monday, compared with 1% a week earlier, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.
The same time a year ago, 26% of the area had been harvested and the five-year average is 19%, FranceAgriMer said in a report.
Some 57% of French soft wheat was rated as in good or excellent condition, down from 58% a week earlier and 80% a year ago, it said.
The rating remained the lowest for the time of year since 2020, when French wheat crops were also affected by heavy rain, the office’s data showed.
France’s agriculture ministry this week forecast a 15% drop in production of soft wheat, the country’s main cereal crop, to a four-year low of 29.7 million metric tons.
Market estimates are lower, with some pegging production below the 2016 crop of 27.6 million metric tons that was the smallest this century.
FranceAgriMer officials on Thursday warned of downward revisions to come as it gave initial projections of reduced French wheat exports and stocks in 2024/25.
Poor yields so far for winter barley, the first major cereal to be harvested, have fuelled concerns after repeated rain and limited sunshine since late last year.
“I’ve never experienced in my career four seasons of rain like that,” Jean-Baptiste Vervy, a crop farmer east of Paris, said. “Barley is looking very bad, everyone has lost 20-30 quintals (2-3 tons) a hectare in yield.”
Vervy, like other growers, is hoping for a brighter spell to speed up wheat harvesting, with forecasts suggesting warm, sunny weather around the middle of next week.
Nationwide, 61% of winter barley had been cut by Monday, down from 90% a year ago and a five-year average of 71%, according to FranceAgriMer.
Soufflet Agriculture, part of agri-food group InVivo, is observing a 20-25% drop in winter barley yields from last year in its supply network, Francois Pignolet, head of crop procurement, said in a harvest update on Friday.
For soft wheat, initial results showed satisfactory quality and an absence of mycotoxins, he added, without giving an indication on yields.
Source Link : https://www.xm.com/research/markets/allNews/reuters/french-soft-wheat-harvest-slow-and-crop-rating-slips-53879366
