France raises maize, sugar beet harvest forecasts

PARIS: France’s farm ministry on Tuesday raised its forecast for this year’s grain maize production, including crop grown for seeds, to 13.7 million metric tons from 13.6 million last month, now down 7.6 percent from last year.

For sugar beet, which like maize is currently being harvested, forecast output was increased to 34.2 million tons from 31.8 million previously, up 5 percent from 2024, the ministry said in a crop report.

For soft wheat, France’s main cereal crop that was harvested during the summer, the ministry cut its estimate of 2025 output to 33.2 million tons from 33.3 million last month. That was 29.2 percent above the rain-hit 2024 volume.