September 21, 2009

England's 2009 wheat production is expected at 12.9 million tonnes, around 3 million tonnes lower than the previous year, according to figures from the National Farmers' Union (NFU) published Friday (September 18).

The fall in output has been driven by lower plantings and yields, although quality is expected to be good, said the NFU.

"With a difficult autumn planting in 2008 after one of the wettest summers on record, a very dry spring and delays to ripening and harvest by yet more summer rains in 2009, farmers overcame a challenging season and crops bounced back," said Ian Backhouse, combinable crops chairman at the NFU.