FranceAgriMer sets 2017 corn quality on par with 2016, production up 14.8%

France’s agriculture agency FranceAgriMer says the country’s 2017 corn crop is 14.8% higher despite a 2.6% decline in area, according to a report.

France’s 2017 corn area is estimated at 1.36 million hectares, lower on the previous year, but an epic performance from corn yields has fired the country to a crop of 13.2 million mt.

That takes the yield to 9.74 mt/ha, up from 8.24 mt/ha in the previous year, a rise of 15.4% year-on-year.

“Despite a dry winter and extreme temperatures in the spring, corn took advantage of the low but fairly well distributed rains in the summer to achieve a high average yield,” the report notes.

Some regions, such as Alsace and Champagne-Ardenne in the east of the country and Aquitaine and Occitania in the southwest, hit historically high yields in excess of 11 mt/ha.

For quality elements such as moisture, energy, protein and fat are in line with 2016 results, according to the data.