The HGCA Planting Survey, conducted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board's cereals and oilseeds team, shows the GB barley area has fallen by 21% in comparison to 2009 - to a total area of 0.901M Ha. This is only the fourth time post war the barley area has fallen below 1M Ha.
"Barley levels seen are similar to those in 2006 and 2007 but the market is likely to be buffered by stocks carried over from the previous season" explains AHDB's Cereals and Oilseeds Analyst Tosin Onikoyi, who managed the surveys.
The survey reveals a robust picture for the 2010 GB wheat and oilseed rape area, the results showing higher planted areas than 2009. Wheat has seen a rise of 10% from 1.803M Ha in 2009 to 1.992M Ha, while the oilseed rape area is up 14% across GB to 0.661M Ha closing in on the 2007 record of 0.681M Ha.
"All regions have seen an increase in wheat area encouraged by the favourable planting conditions seen in autumn 2009 despite lower ex-farm prices at the time.
"Oilseed rape has benefited from barley's demise and clearly remains the most profitable break crop for a combinable crop enterprise. 2010 has the potential to be a really strong crop as yields in 2007 were below average.
"All regions have seen a decrease in spring barley plantings, however these could be considered to be a return to more normal levels. The wet autumn of 2008 meant a lot of land went to spring cropping," explains Miss Onikoyi.
The 2010 results for winter barley indicate that at 0.361M Ha it could be the lowest area since Defra started publishing winter barley areas in 1994.
"Last year's over supply and disappointing malting demand kept prices low, making other crops such as oilseed rape and second wheat more competitive" said Miss Onikoyi.
Planting Survey
|
GB, 000 ha
|
2009
|
2010
|
% change
|
|
Wheat
|
1803
|
1992
|
10
|
|
Spring Barley
|
728
|
540
|
-26
|
|
Winter Barley
|
397
|
361
|
-9
|
|
Total Barley
|
1133
|
901
|
-21
|
|
Oats
|
129
|
123
|
-5
|
|
Oilseed Rape
|
581
|
661
|
14
|
2010 Variety Survey Results
With Group 4 varieties now accounting for over half of all wheat grown in GB, the HGCA Variety Survey appears to reflect a trend in increasing regionalisation for markets.
AHDB Senior Cereals and Oilseeds Analyst Michael Archer added: "The Variety Survey results suggest a further movement away from milling wheat varieties and towards Group 4 varieties, not only due to the higher input costs but also potentially as a result of the market interest arising from the new bio-ethanol plants.
"The 2010 plantings indicate that more Group 4 wheat is being grown in the north east - with 61% of wheat plantings in this area in 2010 compared to 41% in 2008 - again a possible sign of regional specialisation.
"Group 1 plantings are up by 10% in the South East for example, which is a key export area, but Group 3 plantings nationally continue to decline due to both on-farm performance and variety availability. This paints a more variable picture for exports.
"But it is important to remember total crop size and average quality have an important role to play in the quantity of high quality wheat available for different end markets. This data will be available from the HGCA Cereal Quality survey released in the Autumn," said Mr Archer.
Wheat varieties
|
nabim Group
|
2009
GB
plantings
|
2010
GB
plantings
|
%
Change
|
|
Group 1
|
16%
|
17%
|
1
|
|
Group 2
|
19%
|
15%
|
-4
|
|
Group 3
|
15%
|
11%
|
-4
|
|
Group 4
|
47%
|
51%
|
4
|
Topics
Species
