French soft wheat crop rating slips further

The condition of French soft wheat has declined for the third week in a row, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday, as a dry spell persists in the European Union’s biggest grain producer.

An estimated 85% of soft wheat was rated in good or excellent condition in the week to June 12, compared with 88% the previous week, the office said in a cereal crop report.

The score was well above the 65% registered a year earlier and remained near the highest for the time of year in FranceAgriMer records going back to 2011.

Dry weather since late May in the northern half of France, accompanied by increasingly warm temperatures, has revived concerns over a recurrence of drought that affected France and much of Europe last summer.

However, FranceAgriMer said on Thursday that winter crops such as wheat were maintaining good yield potential in the run-up to harvesting, with weather concern centred on spring crops.

Grain markets are watching to see if widespread showers forecast next week bring significant moisture to northern French plains as well as other crop regions in northern Europe.

The good/excellent ratings for other major cereal crops also fell for a third week.

For winter barley, the score fell to 85% from 87% the previous week, while the spring barley rating dropped more sharply, to 83% from 89%.

FranceAgriMer’s report showed that winter barley harvesting had not started as of Monday, though other observers have pointed to initial cuttings in recent days.

For grain maize, the good/excellent score shed 2 percentage points to 86%.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gus Trompiz Editing by David Goodman and Conor Humphries)