France: 94% of winter barley crop rated good or excellent

The condition of soft wheat improved for a second week last week, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on February 24, indicating a record dry spell has not yet strained crops in the European Union’s biggest wheat-producing country.

An estimated 95% of soft wheat was rated as good or excellent compared with 93% the previous week and 92% two weeks earlier, according to the office’s cereal report.

The score was also above the 93% registered a year earlier.

Grain traders and analysts have said crops have avoided cold damage this winter and that soil moisture has been adequate despite an unprecedented dry spell over the past month.

However, low February rainfall has raised concerns about a possible repeat of last year’s drought during crucial spring and summer growing periods.

For winter barley, 94% of the crop was rated good or excellent, while durum wheat scored 92%.

Farmers made more swift progress in sowing spring barley, with 80% of the expected area drilled by Feb. 20, compared with 58% a week earlier and an average 24% over the previous five years, FranceAgriMer’s data showed.

26 February, 2023