May 12, 2011

French grains hit by drought

Drought-hit France is going through a critical phase which could endanger final grain crop yields, farm office FranceAgriMer said on Wednesday (May 11).

France experienced one of the hottest and driest months of April on record, and has lost prospects of a good wheat crop this year as lack of water hit plants at an advanced development stage, the French farm office FranceAgriMer said, adding that beneficial factors could still intervene in the key months of May and June.

"We are in a cautious state of expectation," FranceAgriMer senior official Christian Vanier said as farmers are closely monitoring weather forecasts in hope of rain.

The impact on yields in the EU's largest grain producer will likely be mixed and will depend on the soil quality and where storms occur, he said.

"Every day that goes by without rain brings us closer to irreversible damage," FranceAgriMer chairman Remi Haquin said, who owns a grain farm in the grain basket north of Paris. The wheat crop was around two weeks ahead of average growth pace, he also said.

On Tuesday (May 10), the scientific head of France's grains technical institute said the drought would cut the country's wheat output by at least 5%.

But FranceAgriMer said it was too early for them to translate drought-related worries into numbered yield losses. The office is working on a crop rating system but it only covers half of the country so far.