because the yield of this cereal is in free fall this year in France

Wheat production in France has fallen by 25% compared to the average harvest of the last 5 campaigns. Should we be worried?

A quarter less wheat will be grown in 2024 than in previous years. This is a significant drop, which raises some questions. Where does this drop come from? Will there be a shortage of flour in the near future? Could the price of bread or pasta increase? Chef Thierry Marx is also a baker – he was fascinated since childhood by the Gana bakery, next to his home in Ménilmontant – and he owns several stores in Paris. This situation does not leave him indifferent:

“We are worried about both the quantity and the quality. The question of the price of bread is, moreover, very sensitive. It has been, in history, the start of certain revolts, even revolutions. Artisan bakers, but also consumers, have reason to wonder: are we going to run out of wheat, and if so, to what extent.”

Mark Capdirector of the wheat sector CRC (Controlled Reasoned Culture), itself a producer in Creuse, wants to be reassuring, explaining this temporary fall by the weather:

“The weather has been very rainy since autumn 2023, which has hampered the sowing of areas, and has subsequently disrupted production. The whole country is impacted, but there should be no consequences for the consumer, because prices are decided on a global level and prices are currently low; it is therefore rather the farmers who are most affected, because the low prices will not compensate for this year’s poor harvest.”

Farmers are therefore the first to be affected by the climate situation, with a change that must now be considered in crops but also in our consumption patterns.

Thierry Marx insists: “We will have to eat better and less, while defending quality. For example, for bread, it means looking for wholemeal breads, old-fashioned, with sourdough, with rye or buckwheat flours, or even new flours like chickpea or lentil. The milling and baking professions are innovative enough to help us discover more sustainable breads, requiring crops that use less water and are more resistant to climatic hazards.”