Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
The UK is facing one of the worst harvests in history after last winter’s record rainfall reduced crop yields. This is according to a new analysis of government data, as reported by the online publication FarmingUK on September 10.
This year’s harvest of major crops will be one of the three worst since detailed records began in 1983, just behind 2020 and 2001, with overall yields more than 13%, or three million tons, lower than the five-year average. The wheat harvest in England alone is estimated at more than 2.2 million tons, 18% less than in 2023.
The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) based its estimates on provisional data on the acreage of wheat, winter and spring barley, oats and rapeseed as well as yield forecasts from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Tom Lancaster, agricultural analyst at ECIU, said it had been a “year to forget”. “The recent mild summer has failed to compensate for the six months of seemingly endless rain over the winter, the effects of which are now becoming apparent,” the expert added.