French wheat in "good to excellent" condition at four year low

French soft wheat estimated to be in "good to excellent" condition is at a four year low at 85%, down eight percentage points on the same stage last year, data from French governmental agency FranceAgriMer showed Friday.

A total of 78% of the 2018/19 crop is rated as good, unchanged on the week, while 7% of the crop is rated excellent, up one percentage point from last week, the data shows.

In comparison, 63% of the crop was rated good this time last year, while 30% of the crop was rated as excellent.

The biggest declines in qualities this year were recorded in Ile-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

About 79% of the 2018/19 French durum crop is in good to excellent stage, down 2 percentage points on the week, and down 6 points on the year.

The key growing spring and summer months for the French durum and soft wheat crop are yet to come, which will be the most significant impact on the final crop yield and quality.

French soft winter wheat plantings for the 2018/19 harvest were more-or-less unchanged year-on-year, up 0.1% on last year’s area to 4.96 million hectares.