Imports of wheat, barley and maize are up on both 2020 and 2021 for the first eight months of this year, according to figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This grain is mainly used for animal feed, but some is used in the production of food and drink for human consumption.

Some 161,334t of wheat were imported into the Republic of Ireland from January to August 2022. This compares with 109,389t for the same time in 2021 and 95,673t in 2020.

The majority of this wheat came from Great Britain, while Northern Ireland and France accounted for much of the remaining amount.

Barley

Barley imports were also up. Some 133,365t of barley were imported up until the end of August in 2022.

In 2021, this figure was at 115,875t and in 2020 this figure was lower again at 84,665t.

Great Britain was once again the main source for barley, with Northern Ireland and France taking up the majority of the remaining tonnage.

Large rises in imports of both wheat and barley came in April, May and June this year when compared with other years.

Maize

Maize remains the top choice of imported grains. Approximately 986,159t were imported into the Republic of Ireland from January to the end of August. This compares with 729,666t for the same time in 2021 and 730,201t in 2020.

Some 99,886t of maize were imported in April, 119,655t in May, 156,699t in June, 121,891t in July and 133,757t in August.

Approximately 405,666t of this maize came from Canada. Roughly 146,839t came in from Brazil in July and August, while 103,201t came from France.

Some 70,166t of maize crossed the border from Northern Ireland and the country of origin is not detailed in the figures.

These figures come from raw data from the CSO and may be subject to change.