French soft wheat crop rating falls again as dry weather persists

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

An estimated 88% of soft wheat was rated in good or excellent condition in the week to June 5, compared with 91% the previous week and 93% two weeks ago, the office said in a cereal crop report.

The score was well above the 66% registered a year earlier and remained near the highest for the time of year in FranceAgriMer records going back to 2011.

After spring showers helped offset low rainfall during winter, a warm and dry spell in the northern half of France since late May has revived concerns over a recurrence of drought that affected France and much of Europe last summer.

Grain markets are watching to see if storms forecast for the weekend bring significant moisture to northern zones before another dry, warm spell expected next week.

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

For winter barley, usually the first cereal to be harvested at the start of summer, the score edged down to 87% from 88%.

The ratings for durum wheat, spring barley and grain maize declined more sharply, losing four percentage points each to 82%, 89% and 88% respectively, FranceAgriMer said.

Tags: crop condition, crop forecast, France, wheat