Finland
September 6, 2017
In autumn 2016, Finnish fields produced a cereal harvest of more than 3.5 million tons. Of this, nearly three million tons were used in Finland. More than 770,000 tons were exported, and cereal stocks outside farms decreased by 170,000 tons.
In the 2016–2017 crop year, a total of 770,000 tons of cereals were exported. The export volume was at its highest, i.e. more than one million ton, in the 2014 crop year. The last time the Finnish cereal harvest was unable to satisfy domestic consumption was in 2010. In the preceding three years in 2007–2009, the cereal harvest exceeded four million tons, as a result of which Finnish stocks were able to buffer the under-production in 2010. After this, Finnish production has been able to cover annual consumption.
Oats had the highest export volume
– During the previous crop year, all of the three cereals with the highest production volume were exported. Oats had the highest export volume, i.e. 326,000 tons. The export volume of barley was nearly 250,000 tons, and that of wheat was slightly below 200,000 tons, says senior statistician Anneli Partala from Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
Traditionally, some cereals are also imported, mainly rye for the food processing industry. During the previous crop year, import volumes were slightly lower than normal, i.e. 10,000 tons, as the production volume of Finnish rye has been higher in the past few years than in ages.
Nearly two million tons of cereals were used as feed
Of the autumn harvest, roughly 1.9 million tons were used as domestic animal feed. Farms used approximately 1.3 million tons in direct feeding. In addition, some 0.6 million tons of cereals were used for industrially processed feed.
Oats came ahead of rye in the food processing industry
Of the total cereal harvest, nearly 440,000 tons, i.e. 12 per cent of the previous autumn’s harvest, were used as food. Wheat accounted for a little over half of this figure. For the first time, oats passed rye, as its use for food was slightly more than 90,000 tons.
Statistical Services of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) monitors the production, use, consumption and stocks of domestic cereals on the basis of available statistical data. The cereals balance sheet is prepared for each crop year, and the most recent estimate was prepared for the crop year of 1 July 2016–30 June 2017. The statistics are available on stat.luke.fi/en. The Finnish Cereal Committee also monitors the status of each crop year on a quarterly basis at its website.
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