In the United Kingdom, the wheat harvest for the 2020 season turned out lower than expected earlier in the season, government agency Defra recently announced. It is therefore striking that the wheat acreage is expected to increase further in 2021.
The largest drop in production is due to wheat, Defra reports. The harvest for the 2020 season is expected to be 6,6 million tons, a decrease of 475.000 tons compared to previous estimates from October 2020. This is a decrease of no less than 40,5% compared to 2019 and the lowest production since 1981. The average hectare yield of 7 tons is also well below the long-term average of 8,4 tons. The area has been adjusted downwards by 28.000 hectares to 1,38 million hectares.
Area is increasing
The poor yields do not seem to deter growers from sowing wheat. For 2021, a 28% increase in the area is taken into account. An increase of 25% is expected for winter barley, while the area of spring barley is expected to decrease by 30% compared to the 2019 season. The cultivation of rapeseed is expected to decline for the third year in a row.