July 16, 2012

Britain's 2012 wheat plantings up 2% to two million hectares

Since 2008, Britain's 2012 wheat plantings rose to its highest level to two million hectares, up 2%, the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) said Friday (July 13).

The HGCA said all English regions showed an increase in wheat area, with the exception of the North West and East Midlands. Meanwhile, Scotland's wheat area is estimated to be 6% lower than 2011 at 108,000 hectares, due to wet autumn conditions that made planting difficult.

"Strong forward prices at planting time, combined with good planting conditions in England are most likely to be behind the increase in planted area," said HGCA Senior Analyst Jack Watts.

"Although Scotland saw a wet autumn, the weather was much more favourable in March this year which enabled farmers to plant more spring barley in place of winter wheat," he added.

This year's Planting Survey showed that total area for wheat, barley, oats and rapeseed is estimated at 3.8 million hectares, up 3% on 2011, with area gains likely to have come from reductions in crops such as pulses.

However, Watts warned that weather for developing crops has been poor over recent weeks, with low sunshine levels and high rainfall during the critical grain filling period, and uncertainty remains around yields as a result.

"This is particularly true for oilseed rape, which has seen record planting levels which may not translate into record production," he added.

The total rapeseed area for harvest is estimated to be 712,000 hectares, up 5% on 2011 and a new record. However, total barley and oats area are historically low at 986,000 hectares and 110,000 hectares respectively.