The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau on August 22, 2022 during a press briefing at his ministry in Paris (AFP/Christophe ARCHAMBAULT)
Grain corn production fell 18% in August compared to last year, in the context of a historic drought and a succession of heat waves, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday.
“For field crops, the exceptional climatic conditions have led to an unprecedented disparity in yields”.
However “the quality of the 2022 French harvest will make it possible to meet market expectations”, according to a press release from the ministry, published after the third meeting of the drought situation monitoring committee.
“On sunflower, production will be stable,” added Minister Marc Fesneau during a press briefing. And for straw cereals (soft wheat, barley …) the harvest is also “generally stable, but all that hides a great disparity depending on the region”, he qualified.
“With regard to grain corn, we are on an estimated drop of more than 18% in production to date, August 2022 compared to last year”, indicated Mr. Fesneau.
The drop in grain maize production, mainly used for animal feed, is all the more worrying as it is combined with the drop in grass production (-21% over one year). “The risk that I identify in the medium term is on breeding,” notes Mr. Fesneau.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty announced a series of measures intended to relieve the actors of the agricultural world, including an increase in the ceiling for advances in CAP aid from mid-October, representing a envelope of 1.5 billion euros.
To support agricultural producers with PDOs (protected designations of origin), the ministry also requested “adjustments to the specifications” from the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Inao).
© 2022 AFP
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