France: Spring barley sowing 92% complete as of March 10

The condition of France’s soft wheat crop remained stable last week in a new sign that drier weather allowed crops to stop deteriorating, Reuters reported on March 14.

Ratings showed that 74% of the soft wheat crop was in good or excellent condition by March 10, unchanged from a week earlier, while winter barley scores were stable at 70% compared to 68% by the same time last year.

The soft wheat rating was still the second-lowest in the past five years after the 66% score a year ago when torrential rain set France on course for its smallest wheat harvest since the 1980s.

Winter crop conditions deteriorated between December and February, with a wet January keeping some fields waterlogged, but they have remained nearly stable since.

Spring barley sowing was 92% complete as of Monday, March 10, up from 65% the previous week and well ahead of the 28% a year earlier.

The pace of sowing also exceeded the five-year average of 70% for that week.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .