The corn harvest 50% lower than that of 2025 in France, according to the producers' association

Unheard of in 50 years. The corn harvest for 2026, almost complete in France, is down 50% compared to the previous year, according to estimates from the main producers' association made public on Tuesday October 20. Grain corn production, at some 7 million tonnes, is at its lowest since 1976, due to a drop in cultivated areas but above all drought and heatwaves, including that of the end of June which was particularly harmful for the plants, officials of the Association of Corn Producers in France (AGPM) indicated at a press conference.

“We have reached an additional milestone. This year, disaster has arrived,” declared Franck Laborde, farmer in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and president of the association, attached to the FNSEA, the dominant agricultural union. In mid-October, the statistics department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agreste, estimated the harvest at 7.3 million tonnes (compared to 13.6 million tonnes in 2025). The analysis firm Argus Media forecasts 6.9 million tonnes. The financial loss is estimated by the AGPM at 2.5 billion euros for farmers in their corn activity.

The association calls on the government to “act without delay to save farms and ensure the 2027 campaign”. On an estimated cost of 900 euros per hectare, it is asking for support of 450 euros per hectare, which would be both “avoided expenses and aid in hard cash”, in the words of Franck Laborde.