Sun shines on French wheat harvest, but not rest of EU's

London

THE French are on top and the Germans lagging behind as the European Union's wheat crop draws to a close in a season of contrasts for the world's biggest growing region.

French farmers are celebrating a strong harvest, with good quality, thanks to hot June weather. Their counterparts from Spain to Germany and Romania suffered everything from frosts to heatwaves, and drought to downpours.

Total output for the 28-nation trading bloc will rise 3.8 per cent to 141 million tonnes in the season that started in July, compared with an 11 per cent slump the previous year, according …