By Nayla Razzouk | Updated on Jun 12, 2026 at 07:26 PM
France’s winter soft wheat and barley yields appear slightly better than last season despite adverse weather, according to Benoit Pietrement, president of industry group Intercereales.
Soft wheat yields are expected to be between 7.2 and 7.4 metric tons per hectare, which is in line with the average for good years, Pietrement said on the sidelines of the Paris Commodities Exchange conference. The harvest is expected to start earlier than average again this year, he said.
French soft wheat conditions improved slightly in the week to June 8 as rain and cooler temperatures replaced a period of heat during May. Farmers, who have battled extreme weather in recent years, have also struggled with the hike in fuel and fertilizer prices due to the disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
“I was a little concerned about protein levels, but farmers generally did their part and applied fertilizer in the end,” Pietrement said at the event organized by Agro Paris Bourse.
This will be the fourth consecutive year in which farmers have struggled financially because of high energy and fertilizer costs, he said.
Planted acreage declined again this year, and farmers are seeing “fewer wheat ears per square meter this year, though they are very well-filled and were pollinated very successfully,” he said. Sowing conditions during winter were “excellent” and May’s heat wave doesn’t seem to have reduced wheat grain weights, as hot days occurred during the flowering period, Pietrement said.
“I was worried that pollination might be affected, but in fact things went quite well, so the grains have formed properly,” he said.
There have been no significant disease problems, thanks to the dry conditions at the beginning of the season, Pietrement said.