France: Farm ministry pegs France’s total barley production forecast at 11.94 million tonnes

This year’s soft wheat crop in France, the European Union’s biggest grain producer and exporter, is expected to rise by nearly 4% from last year’s, helped by June showers ahead of harvesting, the farm ministry said on July 11.

In its first projection for 2023 soft wheat production, the ministry forecast the crop at 35 million metric tons compared with 33.69 million last year.

The estimate was based on an expected yield of 7.34 tons per hectare (t/ha), against 7.17 t/ha last year, and an estimated harvested area of 4.77 million hectares, compared with 4.70 million in 2022.

Rainfall in June was beneficial for wheat and other straw cereal crops such as barley despite some localised storm damage, the ministry’s report said.

Other forecasters also say showers helped crops to withstand a parched end to spring, though sweltering temperatures are thought to have trimmed yield potential.

The ministry added that it expects a drop in yields in the far north from very high levels last year.

Its projection for the soft wheat yield was below the 7.5 t/ha forecast by crop institute Arvalis and grain industry association Intercereales last week.

Total barley production was pegged by the ministry at 11.94 million tons, up 4.6% from last year.

Winter barley production was forecast at 9.18 million tons, up 8.3% from last year and above an initial forecast of 9.07 million.

Production of spring barley was forecast to fall 6.2% to 2.76 million tons, with a reduced area expected to outweigh a projected increase in yield.

Durum wheat output was projected to drop 3.6% to 1.30 million tons, with the smallest crop area since 1995 expected to offset a forecast rise in yields.

For rapeseed, 2023 production was projected to rise 2.5% from last year to 4.64 million tons. A 9.6% rise in area to 1.35 million hectares would offset an expected 6.5% drop in average yield to 3.44 t/ha from last year’s bumper level, the ministry said.

Harvesting of barley, wheat and rapeseed is in progress.

For later-harvested crops the ministry kept its area estimates unchanged, including a forecast of the smallest grain maize area in 30 years at 1.23 million hectares.

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