The French grow half a million hectares less winter grain

The area of soft wheat amounts to more than 4.36 million hectares. That is a decrease of 366,000 hectares compared to a year earlier. With the exception of 2020, this is the smallest area in thirty years and also smaller than in previous 'disaster years' such as 2003 with prolonged frost. The area of soft wheat is therefore also 7.5% smaller than the average over the five previous seasons. In winter barley, with an area of 1.27 million hectares, the decline is limited to 90,000 hectares or 6.6%. The area of barley therefore remains virtually the same as the five-year average. Get oats from Spain or Germany Among the less important crops, triticale has been sown on 299,000 hectares. That is 26,000 hectares less than at the beginning of 2023. The area of hard or durum wheat continues the steady decline of the past ten years with now 210,000 hectares compared to 229,000 hectares a year ago. Furthermore, French farmers plant no more than 43,000 hectares of oats, a further decrease of ...