Farming News - AICC and FOL Harvest survey - UK yields hold up but production drops
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AICC and FOL Harvest survey - UK yields hold up but production drops
The AICC and Farming Online have pooled their resources to determine the progress and output from Harvest 2018. Over 300 thousands hectares were surveyed. These results show yields have been better than last year for some crops. Winter barley and winter wheat yields are up on last year, spring barley on a par with last year whilst oilseed rape crops have seen a drop in average yield. However, overall production may be down due to changes in area of crops under cultivation.
The table below summarises and compares the results for key crops with harvest 2017.
Crop | Hectares 2018 (000) *Defra stats | Hectares 2017 (000) | Million Tonnes | Million Tonnes 2017 | % Change |
Winter Wheat | 1640 | 1783 | 14.3 – 15.2 | 14.8 | -4% |
Winter Barley | 338 | 423 | 2.8 - 3.2 | 2.9 | -3% |
Winter Oilseed Rape | 556 | 563 | 2.1 - 2.4 | 2.2 | -10% |
Spring Barley | 768 | 754 | 4.5 – 4.6 | 4.2 | +8% |
The results indicate that winter barley and oilseed rape harvest is now pretty much completed. Whilst around 85% of the winter wheat harvest is completed. Spring barley harvest stands at around 65-70% complete.
Winter Barley
The graph shows the minimum and maximum yields reported for each region along with the derived average yield. The overall average yield represents the national average for all winter barley for harvest 2018.
The results show a range of yields from 5.6 to 9.8 t/ha. The difference between 2 row and 6 row winter barleys was in favour of 6 row varieties with an average yield of 7.7 t/ha for 2 row and 8.4 t/ha for 6 row. The national average yield is calculated out at 7.8 t/ha. This is up on 2017 national average yield of 7.00 t/ha as reported
by Defra. Comparing AHDB variety trials results gives an average yield this year of 10.06 t/ha a 5% increase in yield compared to 2017 when the average yield was 9.57 t/ha.
The latest Defra stats indicate that 338,000 hectares of winter barley were sown. Taking the weighted average from above this would give a total output for this crop of 2.6MT.
Winter Wheat
The graph shows the minimum and maximum yields reported for each region along with the derived average yield. The weighted yield represents the national average yield for harvest 2018.
The results show a range of yields from 7.7 to 11.0 t/ha. The difference between Feed and Milling varieties of winter wheat is marginal with the overall average for both types being 8.8t/ha. The national average yield is calculated out at 8.7 t/ha. This is up on 2017 national average yield of 8.3 t/ha as reported by Defra.
The latest Defra stats indicate that 16.4 million hectares of winter wheat were sown. Taking the weighted average from above this would give a total output for this crop of 14.3MT.
Winter Oilseed Rape
The graph shows the minimum and maximum yields reported for each region along with the derived average yield. The weighted yield represents the national average yield for harvest 2018.
The results show a range of yields from 2.7 to 4.5 t/ha. The national average yield is calculated out at 3.7 t/ha. This is down on 2017 national average yield of 3.9 t/ha as reported by Defra.
The latest Defra stats indicate that 564 thousand hectares of winter oilseed rape were sown. Taking the weighted average from above this would give a total output for this crop of 2.1MT.
Spring Barley
The graph shows the minimum and maximum yields reported for each region along with the derived average yield. The weighted yield represents the national average yield for harvest 2018.
The results show a range of yields from 2.5 t/ha to 7.5 t/ha. The national average yield is calculated out at 5.7 t/ha. This is on a par with 2017 national average yield of 5.6 t/ha as reported by Defra.
The latest Defra stats indicate that 748 thousand hectares of spring barley were sown. Taking the weighted average from above this would give a total output for this crop of 4.2 MT.
Minor Spring Crops
Eastern parts of the country have cleared the spring oilseed rape but for other minor crops and regions, harvest is still only half way through.
Spring beans have under-performed winter beans in all regions where the two crops are recorded. Spring bean yields are averaging out at 3 t/ha as opposed to 3.7 t/ha for winter beans. Spring oilseed rape is currently averaging around 2.6 t/ha, over a tonne down on its winter counterpart. Spring wheat is currently averaging out at 5.6 t/ha, very similar to spring barley.
Yield Summary t/ha.
| WW | WB | WOSR | S Bly | S Beans | SOSR | S Wt |
∞Mean Yield 2018 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 5.4 |
*Mean Yield 2017 | 8.3 | 7.0 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 6.5 |
Notes: ∞Derived National Yields are calculated from crop areas by region taken from the Defra June return and BPS data sets. Regional yields are weighted by the percent of the national crop that is grown in that region. The overall weighted crop mean is then derived from those figures. All cereal yields are @13.5% MC, oilseeds @ 9%MC.
*Defra stats 2017.