The French corn crop is developing rapidly, with two-thirds at the flowering stage in the week ending 11 July, while harvesting continued for soft wheat and ended in most regions for winter barley.

The proportion of corn at flowering stage rose from 30pc to 67pc in the week ending 11 July, compared with just 9pc a year earlier, according to agricultural and sea products agency FranceAgriMer. Development was most advanced in the eastern regions of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Alsace. The northeastern region of Grand-Est, which includes Alsace, had the best crop conditions, with 96-97pc rated "good".

Overall, FranceAgriMer's 2022-23 crop ratings are markedly higher for corn than for other grains — with 83pc of corn rated "good-to-excellent", compared with 89pc last year.

But temperatures of above 35°C in parts of France this and next week coincide with more than two-thirds of the corn crop reaching the flowering stage. Such temperatures could result in incomplete pollination at a development stage that is crucial in deciding grain yields.

The prospect of a poor French corn crop could further increase the EU-27's dependency on imports in 2022-23, as producing regions in eastern Europe are also expecting lower corn production as a result of lower acreages and drought. And with exports from Ukraine severely limited at present, the EU may need to seek corn from further afield. And tight European supply could drive corn prices up and help wheat compete with corn for use in animal feed. Euronext-listed corn futures rose for the second consecutive day on 14 July, even as the milling wheat contract returned to losses.

On winter crops, the week to 11 July ended with half of France's soft wheat crop harvested, up from just 3pc at the same point last year. Harvesting in the northernmost regions of Hauts-de-France and Normandie began that week, while the southernmost regions had harvested about 90pc. The proportion of crop rated "good-to-excellent" rose by one percentage point to 64pc, but the proportion rated "poor-to-very poor" also rose, by one point to 14pc.

General market sentiment is that wheat crop conditions are better than anticipated, despite adverse weather conditions during key planting and development stages. The early harvest could encourage farmers to sell as silos fill up, but exporters have already sold significant volumes of French wheat ahead of the northern hemisphere's key exporting period that ranges from 10 August to the end of September, meaning forward supply is tight.

Meanwhile, French farmers had harvested 82pc of the hard wheat crop by 11 July, compared with about half a week earlier.

France's winter barley harvest reached completion in most regions, with the exception of Normandy and Brittany, which had 13pc and 20pc of barley still to harvest as of 11 July. At the same point last year, farmers had harvested just under two-fifths of winter barley.

As for spring barley, harvesting had started in all regions by 11 July and reached 41pc completion overall, compared with just 4pc a year earlier. Crop conditions for both winter and spring barley were unchanged on the week.

Source - https://www.argusmedia.com