The French wheat harvest down 7.6% year-over-year

"Argus Media estimates the French soft wheat harvest at 30.8 million tonnes for 2026. After an average harvest in 2025, production disappoints again this year and falls below expectations," announces Alexandre Willekens, grains market analyst at Argus Media, in a statement released on Monday. The first estimate from the Ministry of Agriculture services announced last Thursday 32 million tonnes, a 4% drop compared to 2025, a situation notably attributable to the successive heat waves since May. Argus Media's estimate was finalized after a field survey conducted from July 13 to 17, when the harvest was completed. This harvest has been "penalized by a succession of climatic hazards, marked notably by persistent drought and episodes of high heat during the past few months," recalls the group. "Rare positive point of this campaign," the increase in cultivated area (+3% to 4.6 million hectares), which "remains nonetheless the fourth lowest wheat area recorded in over twenty years, due ...