“Smile“Back in the plains: French wheat production is expected at 32.6 million tonnes in 2025, up 27% compared to last year’s disastrous harvest, according to the first estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture published on Wednesday.
“We rather have a smile, even if you have to stay cautious at this stage. We go to a good harvest (…) with good yields and a good quality“, Benoît Piétrement, president of the Council specializing in major cultures at the public Franceagimer, commented during a press point.
This beautiful harvest expected in France, the first European bread cereal producer, would see production increase by 7 million tonnes over a year.
An increase mainly linked to that of yield compared to the low point of the previous campaign: it is an average of 72.6 quintals per hectare, compared to 60.9 q/ha in 2024, an increase of 19%, according to the July bulletin of Agreste, statistics service of the Ministry of Agriculture.
This rebound remains limited, however, because production 2025 would be “Only 2.4% above the average 2020-2024, a period which has two years of low harvests“, notes this note.
This is explained, according to the ministry, by a limited increase in cultivated surfaces over a year and a “relatively low national level of national assembly” with almost 4.5 million hectares of tender wheat, “Or 97,000 hectares less than the area cultivated on average between 2020 and 2024“.
This harvest, which promises to be better than expected, hides however “real heterogeneity“, not geographic but linked to the date of sowing: early winter sowing have resisted” better “stroke“From the beginning of summer that the latest, said Benoît Piétrement, also president of Interceréales, which brings together the players in the sector.
The northern third regions of France remain those which offer the highest yields of tender wheat. And the highest increases are reported in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, where the yield would exceed its five-year average, in Midi-Pyrénées (+13%) and Alsace-Lorraine (+11%) by 17%.
If it was confirmed, this harvest would make it possible to export more than 14 million tonnes of wheat to the 2025-26 marketing campaign, including 6.7 million to European Union countries – an unchanged volume – and 7.5 million to third countries – double the previous year, underlines Franceagimer.
The most fantastic destinations of French wheat are currently Morocco, some countries in the Near East, sub-Saharan Africa, and hope for exporters, China, which has been very discreet in its purchases in recent months.
Regarding all of the straw cereals, on July 1, the harvests take place overall “in good conditions“And are expected in”forte progression“(+25% over a year), thanks to good weather and health conditions for cultures this year, according to the Agreste Bulletin.
Barley production, whose harvest ends, is estimated at 11.8 million tonnes (+19% over one year), under the effect of an increase in yield with almost stable surfaces.
The production of durum wheat, transformed into semolina and pasta, would be 3.5% higher than that from 2024 to almost 1.3 million tonnes, improving yields “more than compensating for a new decline in cultivated surfaces (-7% over one year)”.
The tritical and oat crops, cereals mainly intended for livestock, are in sharp increase with 1.5 million tonnes and 467,000 tonnes respectively.
In 2025, we also observe a “net rebound in rapeseed production” at 4.2 million tonnes (+8%), as well as that of proteinies (pea, fabatia, lupine), at 0.8 million tonnes (+15%), due to the joint increase in cultivated areas and yield.