Finland
November 30, 2015
The grain and potato harvests remained one tenth smaller than last year, but winter wheat and rye yielded record-breaking harvests. The harvests of peas and broad beans were also the largest in years.
Photo: Tapio Tuomela / LukeThe grain harvest (3.7 billion kg) was the smallest in three years, which is partly due to about a five-per cent reduction in the cultivation area. Another almost similar drop in the yield of threshed grain was caused by the record-breaking cereal area used for crops harvested green, as one tenth of the overall cereal area was harvested green for feeding domestic animals. Even though, at farm level, more farms suffered from total crop failure than usual, at the national level the per-hectare yield of rye (3,500 kg) remained only slightly smaller than usual. Other spring grains, oat and spring wheat, had normal yields per hectare.
Record-breaking rye and winter wheat harvests
The per-hectare yields of winter grains, or winter rye and wheat, were at a record high at the national level. When the areas sown in the autumn were also larger than usual, the winter wheat harvest was the second largest during the recorded crop history of hundred years, and the rye harvest the largest in 15 years. The large rye harvest of approximately 109 million kg guarantees sufficient domestic supply of bread rye for the next year for the first time in 15 years.
Wheat harvest of poor quality
The baking quality of wheat is the poorest in this decade. The harvest of all other grains, rye, barley and oat, was of higher quality than last year.
Cultivation areas of peas and broad beans doubled
The area sown to peas and broad beans has doubled compared to last year. Therefore, the total yield of both protein plants increased on last year. The pea harvest was more than 70 per cent higher and broad bean harvest slightly under 50 per cent higher than in 2014. The yields per hectare were, however, smaller than last year.
The share of organic yield the highest for peas and broad beans
The share of organic grain of the total yield ranges from less than one per cent for barley to eight per cent for rye. For peas and broad beans the share is higher, approximately 16 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. A year before, about 20 per cent of the yield for both had been organically grown. The production of both plants has increased more on conventional farms than on organic farms.
Potato crops remained small
The potato crops remained one tenth smaller than last year. The per-hectare yield of potato remained slightly below 25 tonnes per hectare. Over the past decade, this was the third time that the per-hectare yield was below 25 tonnes.
Background to the statistics
Harvest information was collected from about 6,600 farms via telephone interviews and an online service; 600 of them are organic farms. The preliminary information covers about 5,600 farms. Grain quality information is compiled using both Luke’s statistics and data obtained from Evira’s grain quality monitoring. Evira analyses grain samples from about 400 farms.
The information will be reported as final on 25 February 2016, when the confirmed harvest data supplied by farms included in the sample will become available for the calculation of harvest volumes.
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