The results from an annual poll of farmers, conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU), indicate that nearly half of farmers (48%) interviewed thought that their oilseed rape yielded higher this year than the previous year, whilst just 23% of both winter wheat and winter barley growers thought their yields were higher. Just 21% of farmers who were growing beans reported that their crop had yielded more than last year.

The National Farm Research Unit asked around three hundred farmers across England and Wales if yields for their major winter-sown arable crops - winter wheat, winter barley, winter oilseed rape and winter beans - were higher or lower than they were in 2010. "The crop which appeared to be performing massively better was winter oilseed rape, with just under half of all farmers saying that their yields were higher than last year and 27% saying that yields were the same as last year.  This result is supported by a number of harvest reports in which the average national yield of rape was said to be 3.8 t/ha, 15% above the five-year average of 3.3 t/ha."

"The NFRU Poll indicated some regional variation with regard to oilseed rape, with Yorkshire and Humberside (66%of farmers), South West (64%), South East (60%) and North East (58%) regions reporting higher rape yields than last year, whilst just 25% in Wales, 33% in the North West and 42% in Scotland saying that their yields were higher. The Eastern region appeared to be worse hit with the impact of dry conditions leading to significantly fewer farmers saying that they had higher yields this year," says Jim Williams of the NFRU.

Jim Williams points out around a quarter of farmers reported winter wheat yields lower this year than last year (27%), with a further 27% saying their wheat yields were the same and just 23% saying yields were higher. Regions where wheat yields were more frequently higher than last year, according to the poll, included the South East (53%), South West (33% of farmers), the West Midlands (31%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (30% of farmers).

Regions reporting wheat yields lower than last year included the Eastern region (55%), the East Midlands (45%), and Yorkshire and Humberside (32%).  HGCA, ADAS and the NFU all report that winter wheat yields were more variable than normal, which the NFRU poll supports, and on average yields were down by 5% on the 5 year average of 7.9 t/ha.

"When it comes to the winter barley crop, the NFRU poll indicated that the majority of growers (31%) experienced lower yields this year compared with last year.  Just 23% of winter barley growers said that they had higher yields, with a higher percentage of farmers in the South West (42%), Wales (33%) and the West Midlands (27%) reporting higher yields this harvest. Indications from the recently published NFU survey are that winter barley yields were down by 10% on the 5-year average at 5.8 t/ha."

The NFRU poll result indicates that the regional yield performances of winter wheat and winter barley were very variable this year and that this was probably due to the cold and prolonged winter and the dry spring this year, says Jim Williams.