October 15, 2009
French 2009 soft wheat harvest estimate cut on acreage drop
The official projection for France's soft wheat harvest this year has been cut by nearly 1 million tonnes from that of a month ago, as the area under cultivation has shrunk by 150,000 hectares, data from the Agriculture Ministry Wednesday (October 14) show.
Strong rains have led to a sparser seeding of wheat in the past couple months, in favour of other grains, the Ministry said.
The country's soft wheat output is now expected to total 36.6 million tonnes this year, down from 37.6 million tonnes expected a month ago and 37.1 million tonnes produced a year ago. The numbers are rounded.
France is Europe's largest grower of wheat.
The ministry also said wheat stocks are expected to jump this year to 3.5 million tonnes from 3.1 million tonnes in the previous harvest year, due in large part to previously unreported stocks held at farms, which are only being declared now.
However, compared with a month ago, the stock estimate has tumbled from 4.2 million tonnes as stocks are expected to be drawn to cover the shortfall in output.
