Cominable Crop Area Rises July 23, 2014 12:00 am Not surprisingly, the area of cereals and oilseeds grown in Great Britain for the 2014 harvest is up considerably on the weather-affected 2013 year. The HGCA has just published its Plantings Survey results for 2014, which provide a fairly accurate guide to crop areas. More detailed figures will emerge from the June Survey conducted by DEFRA/SG/WG which has a larger sample size. This is produced in September. The table below shows the results of the HGCA Survey alongside previous years’ June Survey figures. It can be seen that wheat has returned to ‘normal’ levels. The winter barley area is actually somewhat higher than it has been in recent years. Spring barley has reduced as there was less requirement for spring cropping this season with far better autumn establishment. The oat area is likely to have declined because there are fewer spring oats. The oilseed area is relatively unchanged. This has come as a bit of a surprise to many in the industry who expected this figure to drop by more. HGCA PLANTING SURVEY – 2014 ‘000 Ha – GB 2010 Final 2011 Final 2012 Final 2013 Final 2014 Estimate % Change 13 – 14 Wheat 1,928 1,958 1,982 1,607 1,955 +22% Winter Barley 376 352 379 305 421 +38% Spring Barley 521 591 597 883 667 -24% Oats* 122 106 120 175 144 -18% Cereals Total 2,943 3,007 3,079 2,968 3,187 +7% Oilseed Rape 641 704 755 715 719 +1% Total 3,584 3,711 3,834 3,683 3,905 +6% Source: DEFRA / AHDB (HGCA) * excludes ‘other cereals’ such as rye, triticale etc. The HGCA also conduct a Variety Survey at the same time. This confirms the trend of recent years of an ever-growing proportion of Group 4 plantings. These feed varieties made up 58% of all plantings for the 2014 harvest (up from 56% last year and the highest for at least a decade). There was some recovery in milling varieties with Group 1s comprising 17% (14% last year). Groups 2 and 3 continue to be squeezed. Of the barley crop, 60% was planted to varieties with malting potential.
