Smaller harvest for French leeks

"According to forecasts drawn up on March 1st, 2025, French leek production will reach
159,100 tons for the 2024-2025 marketing year as a whole, which is 16,300 tons less than last year. In February 2025, prices were 5% higher than in the 2023-2024 season and 15% higher than the 2020-2024 average for the same month," according to the Agreste economic outlook.

Lower yields than last year
The national leek acreage for the 2024-2025 season is forecast at 5,291 hectares, which is 1% less than last year and 5% below the five-year average. The decline in surface area applies mainly to the North Basin (down by 5% from last year). According to forecasts drawn up on March 1st, 2025, national leek production, estimated at 159,100 tons for the 2024-2025 campaign, will be 9% lower than last year and 4% below the five-year average. Lower yields, particularly in the Center and Rhône-Alpes regions, would explain the drop in production compared with the 2023-2024 campaign.

After a monthly production that was generally below the last 5 campaigns, production returned to a more average level from January onwards, even though poor weather conditions sometimes meant that leeks had to be peeled off a lot. Grubbing-up work is well under way, and we can expect to see lower volumes for March.

Leek prices above the average of the last 5 years
In January, heavy rainfall and cold temperatures made digging up difficult in some basins. Against this backdrop, prices rose (15% above the five-year average). In February, demand eased with the school holidays but was supported by promotional offers. Prices remained higher than in February 2024 (+5%) and the five-year average (+15%).

In cumulative terms from May 2024 to January 2025, and compared with the same period last year for leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, exports (7,200 tons) were down by 23%, while imports (12,400 tons) were up by 15%. The foreign trade deficit in volume terms (5,200 tons) increased sharply throughout the year during the period under review.

Source: agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr