French farmers had harvested just 3% of this year's grain maize area by September 23, up from 1% a week earlier but well below 21% at the same time last year, farm office FranceAgriMer said on Friday. Growth of maize crops in France has been lagging the usual pace, while traders said the return of rain last weekend after a long dry spell would slow harvest work.
Maize crops were running two days behind the average development pace of the past five years and eight days behind last year's rate, FranceAgriMer said in a weekly crop report. Yield prospects for the harvest are seen as mixed, with some French regions severely affected by summer heatwaves and drought, while crop conditions in the southwest, a major maize belt, are more promising.
FranceAgriMer kept unchanged its weekly rating for the condition of grain maize, with 59% of crops rated good or excellent. The return of rainfall is expected to help drilling of winter cereals for next year's harvest and FranceAgriMer said wheat and barley sowing were underway.
For soft wheat, France's main cereal crop, 1% of the expected soft wheat area was estimated to have been sown by September 23 compared with zero a year ago, the office said. For winter barley, 2% of the area had been drilled, also compared with zero a year ago, FranceAgriMer said. Showers this week are also expected to help struggling rapeseed plants which were sown during parched conditions in August and early September.
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