According to the French farm office FranceAgriMer, French farmers had harvested 73% of the grain corn crop area by Nov. 1
That was up from 54% a week earlier but well shy of 93% progress a year go.
Meantime, winter cereal sowing even if remained close to the average pace of recent years, per latest data showed by FranceAgriMer, has seen some substantially differences between crops.
Indeed, soft wheat sowing, as of Nov. 1 was 80% complete compared to the expected area.
Winter barley sowing was 90% complete, while durum wheat sowing was only 26% complete.
A surge in energy prices has pushed up the cost of drying maize by around 10% compared with last year, encouraging farmers to leave crops in the field longer to dry.
Meantime, cool weather slowed the crop cycle, even if regular rain has boosted yield prospects for French corn.
However, the late arrival of this bumper crop is creating headaches for producers.
French grain firms, indeed, faced a jump in drying costs and logistical snags, as bumper yields in this year’s corn crop were leading to a late glut of harvest deliveries.
Wet weather earlier this week could slow corn harvest progress more and winter sowing too.
