France expands grain acreage at the expense of potatoes and beets

The expansion of grain cultivation in France is mainly due to wheat, with a 2.6 percent larger area than in 2025. The wheat area is almost entirely filled with winter wheat and is currently estimated at 4.6 million hectares. This cultivated area is comparable in France to the five-year average. In addition to wheat, the barley area decreases by 1.5 percent to 1.76 million hectares. Currently, according to Agreste, mainly less summer barley is being sown. However, there is a slight expansion in the cultivation of winter barley. Furthermore, the rapeseed area is expanding considerably, by 9 percent to 1.38 million hectares. This is the largest rapeseed area since 2018. Just like in the Netherlands, farmers in France are also growing fewer sugar beets and Agreste expects a decrease in the area of potatoes. The beet area decreases by 4.6 percent to 379,000 hectares. That is almost 5 percent less than the five-year average. Last year, sugar beets were still grown on almost 400,000 ...