PARIS: Ratings of French soft wheat crops showed 75% were in good or excellent condition by April 7, down from 76% a week earlier, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.
The score was still well above the 64% in the same week last year, when torrential rain led to the smallest French crop since the 1980s. A very dry start to spring has helped drain fields that remained soggy during autumn and winter.
There has been concern about a lack of moisture in major northern crop belts, though widespread rains forecast from this weekend are expected to alleviate any crop stress.
For winter barley crops, the good/excellent score edged up to 72% from 71% the prior week, while for durum wheat the rating ticked down to 79% from 80%.
For spring barley, sowing of which ended last month, 84% of the crop was rated as good or excellent, down from 86% a week earlier. The dry spell has helped maize planting get going.
By Monday, 15% of the expected area had been planted, up from 2% a week earlier and above a five-year average of 7%, FranceAgriMer’s cereal crop data showed.
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