Harvest in Île-de-France: Difficult start, falling yields

“Long”, “sluggish”, “chaotic”: farmers and collection managers in cooperatives do not mince their words to describe this start of the harvest. The fault is the incessant rains, which also contributed to the heavy soiling of the plots. The barley was nevertheless able to be harvested, as well as part of the rapeseed. It is now the turn of the wheat, with weather windows finally starting to widen. Generally speaking, while the quality of winter barley may be there, the yields are much lower than those of 2023. “There is a 20 to 30% lack of yield, even on small lands which are usually come out better in such weather conditions,” summarizes Claire Pelletier, operational director at Sévépi, whose territory includes Mantois and Vexin. “We are at a humidity level of 12.9, a protein content of 10.8 and a calibration of 85, which is rather good, but with yields down by 20%,” explains Jérôme Condamy, director of the Terres bocage gâtinais cooperative, based in Château-Landon ...