Drought and lack of water: France’s farmers forced to change

No other EU country exports more grain than France. But heat and drought are threatening the harvest – of all things now that the Ukraine is absent. The farmers have to change over the long term.

A large man’s hand easily fits into the dry cracks in the ground. In the west of Paris, farmer David Lavernant wants to harvest barley soon. But the earth crumbles between your fingers like dust. The plants look puny. Normally the barley should be around 80 centimeters high at this time, he says, but now it’s 20.25 centimeters lower. He’ll probably have to grow something else soon. Plants that need less water. Millet for example. Or soy. There wasn’t anything like that here before.

Wheat production will decline

The complaints of French farmers have become louder and louder in recent weeks. Drought and lack of water bother them and their fields. The chair of the largest farmers’ union, FNSEA, Christiane Lambert, sounds the alarm: “We know that wheat production will fall by four percent. We will have to irrigate more in some regions. Because if production is lower, prices will rise.”

But not everyone can water. Hervé Lingard grows beetroot near Lille. It is totally dependent on the weather.

Water expert Emma Haziza warns of tensions between farmers, end users, industry and tourism in view of the drought.

You are experiencing something that you did not know in France. Water conflicts like this have only ever happened elsewhere, says Haziza. “But given the rising temperatures and the drought that starts early in the year – we had practically not a drop of rain in this country in the first four months of the year – we have to deal with a completely new situation in France,” she says.

Agriculture must adapt to climate change

Save water where you should actually water more to increase grain production. Because of the war in Ukraine, France is all the more important. The country is by far the largest producer and exporter in the EU. While Germany, in second place, exports up to nine million tons of grain per year, France sells up to 18 million tons abroad every year. And this production cannot simply be ramped up. France has exhausted its areas. The fallow land is already being planted. There’s no more room for improvement, says Sebastien Abis.

Genetically modified plants to maintain yield

Abis brings into play genome modification, a new way of plant breeding. Their approval has been discussed within the EU Commission for a long time. But even if it is approved, the goal may no longer be to increase yields. Rather, everything must be done to maintain today’s yields. “Even if we want more – the climate will prevent us from increasing production,” he says.

Between February and March there was up to 40 percent less rainfall in France. After the heat wave in June, a new hot week with temperatures above 35 degrees is announced. France, the breadbasket within the European Union, is facing major challenges.