In 2023/24 MY, the French Ministry of Agriculture forecasts a sharp decline in corn acreage to the lowest level in more than 30 years in France – 1.33 mln ha, Reuters reports.
The reduction is expected against the background of high losses from the drought last year and lower margins compared to other crops.
At the same time, the sunflower area may increase by 1% per year to 868 thou hectares, which is 24.2% higher than the average for the last 5 years. Despite the low yield results from last year’s drought, sunflower seeds remained attractive to French farmers due to favorable market prices and lower growing costs.
For soft wheat, the Ministry maintained its estimate of the planted area in 2023/24 MY at 4.77 mln ha (+1.6% y/y).
Source: Apkinform