France: Significant expansion of the maize area

The cultivation of maize in France is expected to increase by almost 11% this year, as farmers switch to summer cereals during the autumn sowing after unfavorable weather conditions, the French Ministry of Agriculture announced today.
French farmers will sow 1.60 million hectares of corn (excluding seeds), an increase of 10.9% compared to 2019, the ministry said in its first estimate of this year's corn area.
The projected corn area would be 12.2% above the average of the past five years, the ministry added to the report.
"The increase in sowing in spring partially compensates for the decrease in acreage of winter cereals, which was affected by wet soil at the time of sowing, and the decrease in rapeseed area," it said.
The ministry also forecast a sharp increase in sunflower acreage. The area is expected to reach 690,000 hectares, an increase of 14.3% over the previous year and 18.9% above the five-year average.
The area allocated for spring barley was from 696.000 hectares corrected slightly upwards to 717,000 hectares last month. The new estimate is 12.2% above the previous year's value and 43.1% above the five-year average.
The estimated total barley area including winter barley was stable compared to the previous month at 2.0 million hectares.
For common wheat, France's most-produced grain, the ministry kept its estimate of 4.62 million hectares this year almost unchanged compared to the 4.63 million hectares estimated last month, which is still 7.5% below the level from 2019.
The planned grain sowing was 9.26 million hectares, a decrease of 1.5% compared to the previous year.
Heavy rain during the fall disrupted the sowing of wheat and winter barley, while the rapeseed, France's most important oilseed crop, was hit by the spring drought.
The Department of Agriculture changed little compared to last month's 2020 rapeseed area estimate of 1.09 million hectares, a decrease of 1.8% year over year and 24.3% below the five-year average.
The trend towards growing more soybeans was expected to continue. The ministry forecast that the area will increase to a record 171,000 hectares for the eighth consecutive year.
The area estimate for sugar beet remained almost unchanged at 424,000 hectares, a decrease of 5% compared to the previous year. This is due to the effects of the planned closure of four sugar production plants in France.
The Ministry of Agriculture will present its first production forecasts for the 2020 harvest next month, with estimates of winter barley and winter rape.