Lingering cold March weather solidifies poor French wheat condition

Cold and dark March weather spilled over into April keeping French wheat conditions near a three-year low, although weather models now forecast more sunshine and warmer temperatures, Franceagrimer and government weather data showed Friday.

Sunshine was 20% below average across the country during the wettest March since 2013, with some regions seeing 40% less sunlight than usual.

Average national temperatures were 0.5 degrees Celsius below average as "winter played overtime" and caused "late snow events", Franceagrimer said.

Inclement weather forced French wheat conditions down to a three-year low over the past month, with soft wheat rated “good to excellent” kept unchanged this week at 78%.

That compares to 90% this time last year and near the four-year low of 77%.

However, forward-looking weather models show improving conditions over April, with more sunlight as temperatures are set to average around 15 degrees Celsius for the remainder of the month, state weather body Meteo France noted.

The share of French durum wheat rated “good to excellent” also remained unchanged at 79% on the week, flat to last year.