Benjamin Peter, edited by Ophélie Artaud 11:58 a.m., July 27, 2022
The drought of recent months has caused farmers to lose a large part of their wheat harvest.
A situation all the more difficult as the prices of fuel and fertilizer, which continue to increase, worsen their finances.
Some do not even know if they will be able to continue.
Europe 1 went to meet them.
We are about to experience the driest month of July since 1958, fears Météo France.
Less production, while costs explode, farmers who hoped to be able to bail out the coffers can forget.
The season is over.
Luc Mesbah has just harvested his 100 hectares of wheat, near Longages.
With 40 quintals per hectare, the yield is poor.
The drought and the early heat wave last month caused him to lose 30 to 40% of his production.
Fertilizer prices skyrocket
"We have less quantity per hectare and very small, very puny grains. We have specific weights which should reach 800 kilos per cubic meter. And today, in the grain, there is less starch and less nutritional value. It happened at the end of May, beginning of June, there was no more water in the plant and automatically, it was the moment when the grain was forming, it firmed up and it weighs much less", explains the farmer.
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There may be a lack of cash.
And with skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer loads, some will wonder if it's worth continuing to grow wheat.
"Are we going to resow or not? Because we are at more than 900 euros of fertilizer. Is it worth producing? Because if we start another year with the price of fertilizer , there will be big financial losses. It's as if you work and still, you give money", underlines Jean-François Lamassé of the FDSEA.
Especially since the situation could worsen for cereal farmers.
Sunflowers have suffered a lot from the last few days of heat wave.
They also fear big losses.