The latest harvest data from state agriculture agency FranceAgriMer suggest a good performance this year despite the multitude of challenges facing growers.

The 2013 harvest was delayed by up to two weeks due to the lateness of the season. As with much of the rest of Northern Europe, a cold and dull spring and challenging conditions on the ground led to late plantings. However, though harvest activities were regularly interrupted by heavy rains, hot weather in July and early August have benefitted most French field crops.

Wheat

Harvesting has already been completed in the South of France and progress in the Northern and Central regions is reportedly good. Despite the challenges faced late-on and the nerve-wracking start to the year, wheat yields are expected to come in above the five-year average.

According to the results of the last FranceAgriMer survey, the French wheat crop stands at 36 Mt, against 35.6 Mt in 2012. The soft wheat area rose by an estimated 130,000ha in 2013, approaching the 5 million hectare mark.

Average yield is estimated at 74 quintales/ha (7.4 tonnes per hectare), another boost on the five year average, which stands at almost 7.3 t/ha. Deep soils suffered from the excess of moisture from heavy rains in autumn 2012 and spring this year, whereas traditionally drier regions have achieved much better results from the wetter weather. There is a marked difference between production in the East and West of the country, with yields varying between 6 t/ha in the South-West to a maximum of 12 t/ha in the North, where average yields are above 8 t/ha.

Quality is also strong; specific weights are reportedly good to very good. Throughout the country, indices on the Hagburg scale are at a good level. Lastly, and most fortunately, pressures from mycotoxins have been relatively low considering the wet spring weather, FranceAgriMer said on Thursday.

Barley

In contrast to the strong wheat production, barley production shrank in 2013, mostly due to further reductions in the cropped area. French barley production stands at 10.6 Mt this year – a 6 percent reduction on last year's levels. The barley area fell by 3 percent in 2013.

However, FranceAgriMer said general barley statistics hide two opposing trends observed this season; winter barley sowings increased by more than 14 percent, while spring barley fell by more than 27 percent.

Nevertheless, with the barley harvest nearing completion across France, the French agency said winter barley yields and quality were average to good. The barley crop appears to have returned to a more typical state, after a very strong 2012 performance.

Again, yields showed wide variation of between 4 and 10 t / ha, though geographical distribution of these differences is less clear cut than is seen in the wheat crop. FranceAgriMer said malting quality is fairly uniform across the country. Protein levels and specific weights are generally good for winter sown crops.

On top of the dramatic fall in production, spring barley yields took a hit this year, falling to 2.5 to 3 tonnes per hectare.

Oilseed rape was also a disappointment, with average yields of around 3.1 tonnes per hectare. Overall production fell by around 20 percent this year. The reduction can partly be explained by the excess of water and spring hailstorms, according to the French crop agency. Due to more clement conditions, crops in the South west fared much better on the whole.

Pea yields were strong enough to offset a slight decline in production, which stands at 550,000 tonnes.