French ups soft wheat area estimate

PARIS: France’s farm ministry on Tuesday slightly increased its estimate of the area sown with winter soft wheat for the 2024 harvest to 4.37 million hectares from 4.36 million estimated in February.

The total soft wheat area, including a small spring wheat area, is seen at 4.39 million hectares, down 7.7% from 2023, and 7.4% below the five-year average, the ministry said in a statement.

Torrential rain during autumn and winter disrupted sowing in France, the European Union’s largest grain producer, raising concern that farmers would be unable to complete planting plans and that drilled crops would lose yield potential.