Warm weather permits French farmers to advance wheat harvest

FRANCE’S wheat harvest, the European Union’s biggest, advanced in the past four days as sunny weather and temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) allowed fields to dry and farmers to cut crops.

More than 70% of French wheat had been harvested by Tuesday, and first indications are that rain in past weeks hasn’t hurt quality, according to Gautier Le Molgat, an analyst at Paris-based farm adviser Agritel.

France’s soft-wheat production will fall 10% to 32 million metric tons after a spring drought cut yields, crops office FranceAgriMer has forecast. Field results show the harvest is heading to meet that outlook, according to Le Molgat and analyst Frederic Nguyen at Offre et Demande Agricole.