News grain market
UK grain harvest to end at lowest level in 30 years?
Poor grain yields in the UK are likely causing the country to have its worst crop in 30 years, insiders report. The negative yield forecast is caused by the difficult weather conditions of this growing season.
UK wheat production is expected to be less than 10 million tonnes this season. This is considerably less than the 5-year average of approximately 15 million tons and significantly lower than last year's 16,2 million tons. "Yields are also highly variable, resulting in lower average yields. This also makes forecasting full yields more difficult than in previous years," reports government agency AHDB.
The new information shows that it takes into account that the hectare yield is 7% to 15% below the 5-year average of 8,4 tons per hectare. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) suggests total yields could now fall by as much as a third due to the heat of recent weeks. This would bring the yield to its lowest level since the 80s. It was previously announced that the rapeseed harvest has had a lot of problems in the country this season.
Drought affects entire country
Just like in the Netherlands, the British season is characterized by difficult weather conditions. You should think of extreme heat and a very wet autumn. "The dry weather of the past few weeks is just the most recent event to significantly impact the agricultural sector this year," said Tom Bradshaw, vice president of the NFU.
According to Bradshaw, the recent high temperatures were the straw that broke the camel's back. "This took its toll on the remaining crop growth just before harvest, also negating the last grass growth needed for animal feed."
Kimberly Baker
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