Good quality French wheat crop showing high protein

France's 2017 wheat crop was showing very good protein content while other quality specifications appeared adequate to meet market needs despite the impact of late rain, public farming agency FranceAgriMer said on Tuesday. "In terms of quality, the protein content of soft wheat is very satisfactory, even in fields showing very high yields," FranceAgriMer said in a joint harvest report with crop institutes Arvalis and Terres Inovia.
Protein levels were often above 12 percent, it said. This would meet common milling standards in France and its main export markets. It would also be well above the 11 percent average in France in recent years, with the exception of 2016 when low yields led to concentrated protein above 12 percent.
Results for test weights and Hagberg falling numbers, two other measures of wheat quality, were more mixed due to rain at the end of the growth cycle but should meet market requirements, the office said, without giving figures. The decent quality results together with a rebound in production from last year, as confirmed by farm ministry estimates on Monday, could put France in a strong export position after disappointing shipments last season.
However, FranceAgriMer said rain in the run-up to harvesting had led to some mixed test weight readings and localised effects on Hagberg numbers. A rain-drenched summer in Germany, the European Union's No. 2 wheat producer after France, was raising concern about quality deterioration and traders said there could also be some late quality downgrades in northern France where harvesting was being finished off in wet weather.
Quality indications for durum wheat, the variety used in pasta, were also favourable, with strong protein readings generally above 14 percent and decent test weights, FranceAgriMer said. Winter barley was showing good quality readings, with the exception of some protein readings above 11.5 percent that could limit suitability for making beer ingredient malt. Excessive protein was a more widespread problem for spring barley and could rule out much of the crop, particularly in eastern France, from malting markets, the office said.