PARIS: French farmers made little headway in harvesting soft wheat last week, as progress lagged previous years and the state of the rain-hit crop declined, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday. Just 4% of the soft wheat area had been harvested by Monday, compared with 1% a week earlier.

The same time a year ago, 26% of the area had been harvested and the five-year average is 19%, FranceAgriMer said in a cereal report. Some 57% of French soft wheat was rated as in good or excellent condition by July 8, down from 58% a week earlier and 80% a year ago, it said. The rating remained the lowest for the time of year since 2020, when French wheat crops were also affected by heavy rain, the office’s data showed.

FranceAgriMer does not comment on its figures in its weekly reports but officials told reporters on Thursday that persistent rain and limited sunshine had prevented fields from drying out after months of excess moisture.

“The harvest is struggling to get going,” Benoit Pietrement, a farmer and head of FranceAgriMer’s grain committee, said. “We’d really like the sun to return.”

France’s agriculture ministry this week forecast a 15% drop in production of soft wheat, the country’s main cereal crop. Market estimates of the harvest are much lower and FranceAgriMer on Thursday warned of downward revisions to come as it gave initial projections of reduced French wheat exports and stocks in 2024/25.

After unsettled weather this week, a warm, dry spell has been forecast from the middle of next week, which could speed up harvesting if it materialises. For winter barley, the first major cereal to be harvested, 61% of the crop area had been cut by Monday, down from 90% a year ago and a five-year average of 71%, FranceAgriMer said.