French crop harvest off to early start

French winter grain and oilseed harvest has been off to an early start this year, at a time of unseasonably warm weather, which is threatening crops’ yield potential.

Winter barley harvest started across much of the country up to the south of the Paris region — more than a week earlier than long-term averages. Farmers were also reported to begin threshing of winter wheat and rapeseed in southwest France, ahead of previous years.

Barley quality was initially reported to be heterogeneous across the country, with test weights slightly lower than long-term averages.

Much of France is experiencing unseasonably warm weather this week, with temperatures forecast to peak at 40°C in the southwest by 18 June. This is also the earliest heatwave that has hit the country since modern records began in 1947, state meteorological service Meteo France data show.

Hot and dry weather has weighed on winter crop conditions, which declined for six weeks in a row. The share of soft wheat rated “good to excellent” fell to 66pc in the week to 6 June, 15 points lower than the same time last year, latest available data from agricultural and sea products agency FranceAgriMer show.

And just 64pc of French winter barley was most recently rated “good to excellent”, down from 76pc the same time last year.

Tags: yield, winter crop, winter barley, warm weather, FranceAgriMer, harvest, winter grain, France, winter wheat, Oilseed, crops, rapeseed