Due to incessant rains, average yields have fallen by 19%, and production will be 10 million tons less, a drop of 27%
It is expected France to meet his worst harvest from soft wheat for the last 40 years due to excessive rains, reported Bloomberg, quoted by Investor.BG.
Information from international trade analyst Argus indicated that France expected to record its smallest wheat harvest in 41 years after near-continuous rains since sowing led to a poor harvest.
Aarhus forecast yields from France’s 2024 wheat crop at 5,933 t/hectare (ha), down 18.7% from average yields over the past five years.
Together with areas of 4.243 million hectares, this would put this year’s French wheat production at 25.17 million tonnes. The figure is nearly 10 million tonnes below last year’s harvest and represents a 27.2 percent drop from the five-year average.
French grain producers say their yields are down 15-25% compared to their previous averages. Only producers in the southernmost parts of France reported a smaller decline.
Wet weather set the season off to a poor start during sowing. And then French wheat prospects took a further hit from crop disease, cold temperatures and lack of sunlight.
The unfavorable weather also weighed on the quality of French wheat.
Grain processors will be able to ensure there is wheat available to meet the standards of domestic and international buyers, despite the large volume of feed grade in this year’s crop.
The Argus production forecast is that this year’s harvest will be even smaller than that of 2016, when France had its weakest production this century. In 2016, larger occupied areas partially offset the decline in yields to 5,374 t/ha.
Last week, French farmers called on the government to provide financial aid because of the disastrous harvest.
“We have to go back to 1983 and the then 24.5 million tonnes to see the last time there was such a poor harvest in France,” said Gauthier le Molgat, director of Argus Media France. “The entire French grain industry must bear the consequences of this historic drop in production.”
Despite a poor outlook in France and a more limited crop in Russia, wheat traded in Chicago was still near a four-year low as the US crop kept the market well-supplied. In May, wheat traded in Paris hit its highest level in more than a year as frost and rain reduced supply, but prices have since fallen steadily.
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