November 15, 2011

UK has good quality wheat in 2011

UK has good quality wheat crop in 2011 compared to last year, but, it still failed to reach the heights of years such as 2003 and 2006, according to Grown Cereals Authority.

The HGCA said the final results of its annual survey show a higher specific weight and protein for the wheat crop compared with 2010, but slightly lower Hagberg Falling Number an international standard of sprout measurement.

Meanwhile, UK's barley crop has seen improved nitrogen content between the surveys's provisional and final results, the HGCA said, which indicates a better performance by the later harvested spring crop.

The HGCA added that the quality of barley in 2011 varies across regions, with the Scottish crop achieving better results than the drought-affected crops in the South and East.

The HGCA conducts the Cereal Quality Survey annually with the Agriculture and Horticulture Board, with results based on 69,000 samples of wheat and 30,000 samples of barley that are collected from laboratories around Britain.

Average protein content for the wheat crop of 2011 was 12%, the HGCA said, a 0.1% increase on 2010 and higher than the three year average of 11.6%. Average specific weight showed an increase of 1.7 kilograms per hectolitre on last season, the HGCA said, to 78.7kg/hl. This level is the highest since 1990.

Average nitrogen content for the barley crop of 2011 is seen at 1.71%, the HGCA said, higher than last year's 1.64%. Average specific weight was 66.4kg/hl, the HGCA said, lower than last season's 67.0 kg/hl.