PARIS: Farmers had harvested just 2% of this year’s grain maize crop by Sept. 30, well behind the usual pace, data showed on Friday, as rain continued to hamper field work in the European Union’s biggest grain producer.
After repeated heavy rain delayed maize planting and led to the smallest wheat harvest in 40 years, France’s wettest September in 25 years has left some cropland soggy again.
The grain maize harvest was trailing year-earlier progress of 23% and was also lagging an average 26% for the same week over the past five years, farm office FranceAgriMer said in a weekly cereal crop report. Wet conditions make it difficult for machines to enter fields while for maize they can encourage farmers to leave crops to dry naturally and avoid post-harvest drying costs.
Showers are forecast next week in much of France after a drier end to this week, which may keep harvest progress slow. The regular rain has nonetheless helped maize crops during crucial summer growth periods. Some 79% of the crop was rated as in good or excellent condition by Sept. 30, unchanged from a week earlier though down from 83% a year ago, FranceAgriMer said.
Wet weather has also hampered early sowing of winter cereals, raising concerns of a repeat of last autumn’s waterlogged conditions that led to a steep drop in wheat area.
FranceAgriMer said 1% of the country’s expected soft wheat area and 3% of the projected winter barley area had been sown by Monday. However, it warned that a technical issue meant that sowing data was incorrectly shown for the southwestern Occitanie region, with sowing so far only taking place in the Grand Est region in the northeast.
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