PARIS: French soft wheat production is expected to fall by 15.4% to 29.7 million metric tons this year, the lowest level since 2020, the country’s farm ministry forecast on Tuesday.
The ministry’s first projection for this year’s soft wheat crop was based on an expected yield of 6.99 tons per hectare (t/ha), against 7.38 t/ha last year, and an estimated harvested area of 4.24 million hectares, compared with 4.75 million in 2023.
Wet weather and soggy fields since the autumn have delayed planting, hurt plant development and increased crop disease in the European Union’s largest grain-producing country, prompting observers to make repeated cuts to grain crop estimates.
The ministry’s projection for the soft wheat yield was above the 6.4 t/ha forecast by crop institute Arvalis and grain industry association Intercereales last week. Total barley production was pegged by the ministry at 11.29 million tons, down 8% from last year.
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