French corn harvest at 89% while wheat sowing at 93%

The French corn harvest advanced by 7 percentage points in the week to Monday November 25, with 89% of the total planted area now harvested, according to the latest weekly report from FranceAgriMer

While this marks steady progress, it remains behind the 99% completion rate observed at the same time in 2023 and the five-year average of 98%.

Crop conditions for corn, rated as good to very good, declined slightly to 75%, down from 76% the previous week. This is notably below the 82% recorded in 2023.

Soft wheat

Soft wheat sowing for the 2025 harvest reached 93% of the planned area, up from 90% the previous week. This progress surpasses the 81% completion rate observed at the same time in 2023 and slightly exceeds the five-year average of 91%.

The emergence stage improved to 77%, advancing from 65%, but remains just below the five-year average of 82%. Early tillering progressed to 20%, ahead of last year’s 16% but trailing the five-year average of 22%.

Crop conditions for soft wheat rated slightly decreased to 87%, down from 88% the previous week, but remain significantly higher than the 80% recorded for the 2024 harvest.

Winter barley

Winter barley sowing reached 98% of the planned area, up from 96% the previous week. This matches the five-year average and exceeds the 90% rate observed in 2023 at the same date.

Emergence increased to 88% from 80%, approaching the five-year average of 91%. Early tillering rose to 34%, compared to 28% in 2023 and close to the five-year average of 36%.

Crop conditions for winter barley remained stable at 84%, consistent with the previous week and slightly above the 82% recorded for the 2024 harvest.

Durum wheat

Durum wheat planting advanced to 63% of the planned area, up from 52% the previous week. This is well ahead of the 40% recorded at the same time in 2023 but trails the five-year average of 66%. Emergence rose to 25% from 14%, but it remains below the five-year average of 42%.

Early tillering began at 2%, slightly ahead of the 1% recorded in both 2023 and the five-year average.

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