PARIS: The condition of French soft wheat worsened again last week, while wet weather prevented any acceleration of the harvest, keeping it well behind the same stage of last season, farm office FranceAgriMer said on Friday.

FranceAgriMer's crop report said that 75percent of soft wheat rated good or excellent by July 19, against 76percent a week earlier. That remained well above the same time last year, when only 57percent of the soft wheat crop was in good condition.

France, the European Union's largest grain grower, is widely expected to register a rebound in wheat production. The farm ministry last week forecast a 27percent jump in soft wheat output compared with the 2020 crop, 11percent above the average of the past five years.

However, heavy rainfall earlier this summer has raised concern about late losses to yields and a deterioration in grain quality, which determines wheat's suitability for milling.

French consultancy Strategie Grains, which cut its output forecast on Thursday, said it expected the French soft wheat harvest to show poor milling criteria this year.

FranceAgriMer's crop ratings give an assessment of yield potential and not grain quality, which is hard to assess until the crop is harvested.

Soft wheat harvesting made little progress last week, with 14percent of the crop area cut compared with 4percent a week earlier and 67percent a year ago, the office said.

Winter barley harvesting, which traditionally starts before soft wheat, reached 75percent, up from 44percent a week earlier. It was virtually complete by the same stage last year. The proportion of winter barley in good or excellent conditions improved to 74percent from 73percent the previous week.

Durum in good/excellent condition remained stable at 66percent while the harvest reached 63percent, from 40percent a week earlier. Spring barley harvesting was 12percent complete, compared with 1percent the previous week.