PARIS (Reuters) - Dry, hot weather in France in the coming 10 days after several months of little rainfall will cause irreversible damage to grain crops in the European Union’s largest grains producer, a technical institute said on Thursday, adding to worries about tight global supplies.
Between Jan. 1 and May 10 France will have received about 30% less than the average precipitation of the past 20 years, making the soil sensitive to further dry weather, Jean-Charles Deswarte, agronomist at crop institute Arvalis told Reuters.
“Weather Forecaster Meteo France is announcing no rain and hot temperatures for the next 10 days. Plants will clearly not be able to face that,” he said.
“There will likely be a fall in the number of ears, surely be a fall in the number of grains per ear and, depending on the weather in the following days, (there’ll) probably be a fall in the grains’ weight,” he added.
MT benchmark September on Euronext milling wheat futures was up 11.50 euros per tonne, or 3%, at a contract high of 399.00 euros ($419.35) a tonne.
The expected fall in yields would come as French farmers cut back on wheat sowings ahead of this year’s harvest, with the ministry last month estimating the fall at 3.9% on 2021 and 0.7% below the average of the past five years.
Some rainfall in March and April provided relief for the crops in some parts of France but dried up the soil, Deswarte said, citing reports from local experts.