Characterizing the financial situation of French winegrowing operations
Résumé
French viticulture is one of the world leaders in terms of production and the undisputed champion in terms of exports. This chapter assesses the financial situation of agricultural holdings by using the accounting data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and analyses the financial structure of winegrowing operations, with a particular focus on the weight of financial debt. The financial assets of wine farms are very much above the average for French farms. Standard gross output is a global marker of the company's size. It corresponds to the linear combination of the valuation of each production present on the farm, weighted by their respective areas. Economic profitability, which measures the company's ability to generate profits from invested capital, varies considerably from one agricultural specialization to another, and particularly between the two types of viticulture. Crop insurance is widespread in two sectors, field crops and viticulture, in France.