Farmers in England and Wales are sitting on their biggest hoard of wheat for at least 15 years, adding further blow to hopes for a revival in European prices.

Paris milling wheat for November fell to a contract low of E125.00 a tonne.

The amount of wheat kept on farms hit 1.13m tonnes at the end of June, 147% higher than a year before, UK government data showed.

The figure was the biggest for June since at least 1994, and could be a record high given the expansion in farm storage capacity over the last 15 years, one UK farmer told Agrimoney.com

Barley stocks more than doubled too, to 150,000 tonnes, the biggest June figure for at least five years.

Missed opportunity 

The rise in inventories represented a hangover from last autumn's slump in crop prices, following a bumper global harvest. UK wheat production rose 30% in 2008 to 17.2m tonnes.

"When prices started moving down last year, [farmers] sat on it rather than accepting a lower price," a Herefordshire grower told Agrimoney.com.

"Farmers hate selling into a falling market."

The market had now fallen so far that selling would, for many farmers, mean accepting a loss on production.

"Why sell wheat at £90 a tonne when it cost £100 a tonne to produce," the grower said.

Ample supplies 

In London, the prospect of a big crop overhang from last year fuelled concerns that any revival in prices will prove slow.

"No one is going to pay much for wheat when there is so much of the stuff lying around," a City trader said.

The dumping by Danish farmers of wheat stores was blamed in part for a slide in prices last month.

London wheat for November closed up £0.20 at £96.20 a tonne.

In Paris, November milling wheat was E0.75 lower at E126.50 a tonne at 16:25 GMT.