French farmers harvested 26% of this year’s grain maize crop as of September 19, down from 14% a week earlier, agricultural office FranceAgriMer reported on Friday.
This figure compares with the 1% progress of the harvest in the same week last year. Harvest was brought forward at the end of August after an exceptionally hot and dry summer that accelerated plant growth.
The weather has also severely affected yields, and the Ministry of Agriculture expects production to fall to its lowest level since 1990.
An estimated 43% of the corn crop was in good or excellent condition last week, unchanged from the previous week to remain at its lowest in FranceAgriMer data going back to 2011.
Corn crops were 22 days ahead of last year’s growth pace and 12 days better than the five-year average, FranceAgriMer said.
