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Agricultural: Early harvest in France due to heat

Agricultural: Early harvest in France due to heat

The grape harvest in France has not started as early as this year. The reason for this is the heat. Poor yields do not threaten the winegrowers – if the longed-for rain comes.

France’s winegrowers can expect good yields from the harvest, which starts early due to the heat. With an expected 42.6 to 45.6 million hectoliters, these are expected to be on average over the past five years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture in Paris. In all growing areas, the maturity is more advanced than usual, so the harvest begins early.

Last year, a period of frost in the spring led to historically poor yields, and pest infestation also caused losses. This year the climate is slowing down the spread of pests, losses due to frost are only threatened in the south-west of France in the Charente, the ministry said. In Alsace, a lack of rain could lead to a lower weight of the grapes.

According to the experts, the harvest could still be adversely affected if the drought and extreme heat continue. However, the current heat wave in France should subside after the weekend, and rain is also expected in many places.

In the Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France, the harvest began in some cases as early as the end of July, as the ministry announced. Nationwide, the harvest starts ten days to three weeks earlier than usual, the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported. “In more than 30 years, I have never started the harvest on August 9,” southern French winemaker and industry representative Jérôme Despey told the newspaper. A colleague added that everyone was surprised at how quickly the grapes had ripened in the last few days.

Source: Stern

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