French wheat crop ratings stable, spring barley score improves

That compared with 78pc at the same stage last year.

FranceAgriMer rated 75pc of French winter barley as good/excellent, also unchanged from a week earlier, while the equivalent spring barley rating rose to 88pc from 86pc.

For grain maize, 80pc of the expected area for this year's harvest had been sown, up from 68pc a week earlier.