May 21, 2008
Grain acreage to rise 4 percent in France for 2008-09
French 2008-09 cereal area is up 3.9 percent on the year at 9.43 million hectares for both winter and spring crops, according to estimates issued by France's Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries Tuesday (May 20, 2008).
This is also up 3.4 percent from the previous five-year average.
Soft wheat area accounted for most of the plantings, with 5.04 million hectares, up 5.4 percent from 2007-08. The barley and corn acreage were also expected to be up, but durum, oats and rye acreage are expected to fall.
French oilseed area was estimated to be down 5.2 percent on the year at 2.05 million hectares for the 2008-09 crop year. The following is a table of the ministry's estimates for cereal and oilseed plantings of both winter and spring crops in France, in thousands of hectares. The total figure for cereals also includes some smaller crops, such as sorghum and rice.
Estimated grain production in France ( ',000 tonnes )
|
Cereals |
2008-09 |
2007-08 |
Change on-year |
Change vs 5-year average |
|
Soft Wheat |
5,037 |
4,781 |
+5.4 percent |
+5.9 percent |
|
Durum Wheat |
437 |
453 |
-3.4 percent |
+4.8 percent |
|
Barley |
1,751 |
1,698 |
+3.1 percent |
+4.7 percent |
|
Oats |
103 |
106 |
-2.9 percent |
-11.9 percent |
|
Rye |
25 |
27 |
-7.7 percent |
-15.4 percent |
|
Corn |
1,599 |
1,522 |
+5.1 percent |
-2.4 percent |
|
Total |
9,430 |
9,072 |
+3.9 percent |
+3.4 percent |
Estimated Oilseed production in France (',000 tonnes )
|
Rapeseed |
1,482 |
1,616 |
-8.3 percent |
+14.7 percent |
|
Sunflowers |
547 |
519 |
+5.5 percent |
-12.3 percent |
|
Soy |
25 |
32 |
-23.9 percent |
-55.1 percent |
|
Total |
2,054 |
2,167 |
-5.2 percent |
+4.2 percent |
Source: French Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries
