Two exceptionally early periods of heat have made the farmers in Europe’s most important export country tremble for their wheat harvest. Now it seems to be satisfactory. A Southwestern producer shares why she’s still worried about the future.
View of a wheat field in Vaulx-Vraucourt, northern France, awaiting harvest at the end of June.
Only a few bakers have dared to increase the price of their baguettes. The stick of white bread is so present in everyday life in France that its price has great symbolic value – especially in times of inflation. It is now becoming apparent that the wheat harvest will be satisfactory this year. It’s not quite dry yet, but the industry association Intercérales estimates that national yields are only around 3 percent lower than the average for the past decade. Common wheat accounts for the largest share of the cultivated cereals.