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Cereal growers expected to have a good year. On the evening of Saturday June 4, hail ravaged the crops. At the time of the accounts, Monday morning, the operators are worried.
In the Landes, the corn fields of a cereal farmer were ravaged in 15 minutes by hail, Saturday June 4. “We are going through a year of frost and this year, we are going through a year of hail on the crops. We are constantly asking ourselves the question of our future”, comments Serge Tintané. Hailstones the size of a ping-pong ball have knocked down ears of wheat, corn, barley and even rapeseed everywhere in France. In a few minutes, Aurélien Cabé, in the Landes, lost 30% of his corn harvest. “We are struggling, we are always working at a tight flow”he confides.
About forty cereal departments were affected by the hailstorm. Could there be a risk of shortage? David Vallée, who produces wheat and rapeseed in Sonchamp (Yvelines), lost 90% of his harvest. For the FNSEA representative, stocks will be sufficient in France, but sales will be lower abroad. “There are people who will not have to eat this year. Not in France, but in the Maghreb, there are people, they will not be able to buy wheat, rapeseed or cereals at this price”, he explains. The French government has promised to reduce the charges and spread the repayments of farmers’ loans.