France makes sharp cut to soft wheat crop estimate

France’s farm ministry on Friday sharply lowered its estimate of the country’s 2024 soft wheat production to 26.3 million metric tons from an initial projection of 29.7 million last month and now 25% below last year’s volume.

Wet weather and soggy fields since the autumn in France, the European Union’s largest grain producer, have delayed plantings, hurt plant development and increased crop disease, prompting observers to regularly cut their grain crop estimates.

In a first forecast for this year’s production of grain maize, the ministry anticipated output of 13.75 million tons, a rise of 9% from 12.62 million in 2023.

Tags: soft wheat, estimate, grain maize, France, Production, crop, output