PARIS - Farm office FranceAgriMer said on Friday that 92 percent of French soft wheat crops were in good or excellent condition as of March 14, down slightly from 93 percent a week earlier.
The latest weekly rating was still above the year-ago score of 91 percent and remained the highest for the period in the past five years, FranceAgriMer's crop data showed.
Crop development was also ahead of last year's pace. Some 47 percent of soft wheat had reached the 1 cm ear growth stage, compared with 17 percent a year earlier, while 1 percent had reached the subsequent two-node stage against zero a year ago.
Sowing of spring barley was 47 percent complete, up from 32 percent a week earlier but below the pace last year when 76 percent of the area had been sown by the same date.
