26 May 2011

Forty six of French departments in total currently have restrictions in place on water usage.

According to an assessment by the Department of Ecology, published on Tuesday (24^th May), forty Six of the country’s ninety six departments are suffering under restrictions. A continued lack of rain and high temperatures mean much of Europe, France in particular, is preparing to face an incredibly dry summer.

The restrictions cover water uses judged to be of ‘low priority;’ watering flowers and lawns, car washing, filling swimming pools, however, there have been warnings that the restrictions could be expanded to include irrigation of farmlands if the situation worsens.

In an effort to combat the worst effects of the drought on crops, Bruno LeMaire, the French agriculture minister, announced on Monday that French farmers were thenceforth authorised to harvest their crops, bringing forward the original deadline of 15 June.

LeMaire stated that he would secure a ‘national guarantee fund for agricultural disasters’ by the end of June, he said the fund, to sustain farmers hit by the drought, would be around 100 million Euros. LeMaire said, “We now have a crisis situation covering half the country because of this drought.”

The country’s crops are already in crisis. Agritel's first estimate of the 2011 wheat harvest showed a drop of 11% on last year at 31.7m tonnes. Meanwhile, with areas of the country also suffering under the drought, Germany too has problems; the Co-operative Association estimated a 7% drop in production, bringing German production to 22.3m tonnes.

The fear of decreasing yields as a result of the drought has caused further price rises. Oilseed rape values have increased £14/t in the past week. They currently stand at £400/t ex-farm for both spot and harvest movement.