French wheat crop suffers effects of cold snap: FranceAgriMer

Cold weather at the end of February has affected the French winter wheat crop, with FranceAgriMer moving their assessment of the wheat it deems to be in good or excellent condition 2% lower to 81%, according to a report released Friday.

The figure is down from 92% at the same stage last year.

Barley, meanwhile, was reduced from 80% to 79% good or excellent, compared to 88% at the same time in 2017.

The release comes at the same time as another arm of the ministry of agriculture released a report pointing to the cold spell the country experienced at the end of February.

Average temperatures across France were 2.3 C below average across February, according to the report from Agreste.

And rainfall is also an issue.

Although headline figures showed average precipitation across France 11% above the normal, wheat growing regions were well-below the normal at around 75% of what would typically be expected.