Irish cereal production up despite drop in area planted

Total production of the three main cereals (wheat, oats and barley) grown in Ireland increased by 82,000t (3.5%) to 2,393,000t in 2017, according to the final estimates of the area, yield and production released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today.

This increase in production was primarily driven by a 6.8% increase in average yield to 8.8t/ha. This increase in production was achieved despite a3.1% (8,700ha) decrease in the total cropping area from 280,300ha to 271,700ha in 2017.

Potato production also increased by 60,000t (17.2%) to 412,000t, driven by yield and area increases.

Table 1. 2017 Total production of crops

Barley

The production of spring barley increased by 9.4% (78,000t) while the area sown also increased by 600ha.

The production of winter barley decreased by 8.1% (­52,000t) in 2017. The area of winter barley planted fell by 9,600ha, but the average yield per hectare rose by 0.5t.

Wheat

Overall, winter and spring wheat production was up by 5.2% (34,000t). The area sown decreased by 900ha (­1.3%), but average yields rose by 6.6%. The average yield of winter wheat increased by 0.7t/ha while the area of spring wheat reduced by 800ha.

Oats

Winter and spring oat production increased by 11.8% (22,000t).The total area sown increased 1,200ha (5.3%) and the average yield increased by 7.2% for winter oats and 3.9% for spring oats.

Oilseed rape, beans and peas

Oilseed rape production was up 22.2% (8,000t). The area sown increased by 200ha (2.3%) and the yield increased by 19.5%.

The area under beans and pea production rose by 1,200 ha (9.9%). There was a significant increase in average yield (16.2%), but the report does not distinguish between each crop.

Potatoes

The area under potato production rose by 1.2% to 9,200ha. The average yield of potatoes increased by 15.4% from 38.9t/ha in 2016 to 44.9t/ha in 2017, resulting in an increase in production of 60,000t (17.2%) to 412,000t.

Table 2. Total area under crops

Table 3. Average yields of crops

Methodology

The June 2015 – June 2017 estimates for the area under crops shown in Table 2 was obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Basic Payment Scheme.

The yield figures found in Table 3 are given on a “green” (as harvested) basis. The winter wheat yield refers to feed wheat. Similarly, the spring barley yield refers to feed barley. The oilseed rape yield is a weighted average of the winter and spring yield.

The bean and pea yield is the weighted average of pea and bean yield.

For potatoes, the early crop yield was applied to a proportion of the area under potatoes based on estimate of the area sown under early potato varieties in each county. The main crop yield was applied to the remaining area.

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