Crops in France had endured a prolonged dry spell as well as late frost in April before a shift to wetter, milder weather this month.
In its weekly crop report, FranceAgriMer estimated that 76 percent of soft wheat crops were in good or excellent condition as of May 8, compared with 75 percent a week earlier, breaking a run of four weekly declines.
The previous week's 75 percent figure was corrected from the 74 percent stated in the previous report.
Soft wheat ratings were well below the score a year ago, when 87 percent of crops were seen as good or excellent. However, crops deteriorated dramatically from late May last year because of adverse weather, leading to the worst French wheat harvest in three decades.
More showers are forecast in the coming days, though traders say that some zones have yet to receive much rainfall and hot weather expected next week could exacerbate persisting dryness. Crop ratings for durum wheat, the variety used for pasta, also rose in the week to May 8, increasing to 64 percent good/excellent from 62 percent, FranceAgriMer said.
Copyright Reuters, 2017