PARIS: France’s grain harvest kept up at a fast pace in the week to July 18, with soft wheat running two weeks ahead of last year, while maize crop conditions deteriorated as the country experienced a hot spell, FranceAgriMer data showed on Friday.

The farm office said in a crop report that French farmers had harvested 84% of the soft wheat crop by July 18, up from 50% last week and 12% by the same time in 2021.

The winter barley harvest was now over, compared to just 70% a year ago.

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An estimated 63% of soft wheat was in good or excellent condition, down from 64% the previous week and 75% below last year, FranceAgriMer said. But the extremely warm weather is feared to have caused damage to maize crops in some key growing regions, analysts said.

FranceAgriMer estimated that 75% of French grain maize crop was in good or excellent condition by July 18 against 83% the previous week and 90% a year earlier. Dry and warm weather is expected to last at least two more weeks in the main grain baskets in France.

Durum wheat harvesting was 96% complete, versus 82% a week earlier, while 77% of the spring barley crop had been cut, up from 41% the previous week.