Significantly less sowing of winter grains in France due to wetness

Due to the soaking wet conditions and sometimes even major flooding, growers were forced to postpone sowing until spring. This means that French farmers will now opt for spring grains. The area of soft winter wheat in France for the 2024 harvest will amount to 4.36 million hectares, according to Agreste figures. That is a decrease of 366,000 hectares compared to last year. The sown area is therefore 7.5 percent smaller than the average of the past five seasons. The area of winter barley remains approximately the same as the five-year average. However, a contraction of 6.6 percent meant that the area of 1.27 million hectares was approximately 90,000 hectares lower than last year. Due to the bad weather in France at the end of 2023, in which 17 percent more precipitation fell than normal, the area of smaller winter crops also logically decreased. For example, triticale has been sown on 299,000 hectares, 26,000 hectares less than the level at the beginning of 2023. The area of durum ...