National statistics

Provisional cereal and oilseed production estimates for England 2023

Updated 21 December 2023

This release contains the first estimate of the 2023 English cereal and oilseed harvest. Data are not yet available for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but will be included within the final production estimates for the United Kingdom in December 2023.

For detailed area, yield and production results go to the accompanying data set.

Key points

• All the main cereal crops saw reduced yields in 2023 compared to 2022 with areas also falling, with the exception of winter barley, which saw a 5.2% increase in area in 2023.
• The provisional estimate of the 2023 English wheat harvest is 12.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 10% on 2022. This is due to decreases in both yield and area in almost all regions. All regions saw decreased wheat production.
• The provisional estimate of the 2023 English barley harvest is 4.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 5.8% on 2022. This comprises a 13% decrease in spring barley production partly offset by an increase in winter barley. Yields for spring and winter barley were lower than those in 2022 for all regions, except for winter barley in the West Midlands and the Eastern regions.
• In 2023 oats production fell by 18% to 651 thousand tonnes, caused by a 4.2% decrease in area and by a 15% decrease in yield to 4.9 t/ha compared to 2022.
• Oilseed rape production is estimated to have fallen by 14% to 1.0 million tonnes in 2023. A 6.1% increase in area was not enough to offset lower yields, down 19% on the previous year at 3.0 tonnes per hectare.

Section 1: Area, yield and production

The unseasonably wet and windy weather hindered the start of the harvest, with further disruption throughout August due to localised showers and heavy downpours, with progress varying regionally. Whilst conditions were milder in September, some regions still had lengthy periods of wet weather.

1.1 Areas

Figure 1: England crop areas between 2000 and 2023 as published on 31 Aug 2023

The wheat area saw a decrease of 5.3%, possibly due to farmers favouring planting barley and oilseed which both saw increases in area in 2023, of 2.2% and 6.1% respectively. The oats area also decreased from 140 thousand hectares to 134 thousand hectares. (see Figure 1)

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1.2 Yields and production

The provisional estimate of the 2023 English wheat harvest is 12.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 10% on 2022. This is due to decreases in both yield and area in all regions, (yield decreased by 5.2% to 8.1 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) and area decreased by 5.3% to 1.58 million hectares). Wheat production decreased in all regions. The South West region showed the largest production decrease (15% since 2022) and the lowest yields were seen in the North West and Merseyside (5.8 tonnes per hectare).

The provisional estimate of the 2023 English barley harvest is 4.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 5.8% on 2022. This comprises a 13% decrease in spring barley production, partly offset by a modest increase in winter barley, rising by 0.9%. Overall yields for both winter and spring barley decreased by 4.0% and 13% respectively.

In 2023 Oats production fell by 18% to 651 thousand tonnes and the overall yield decreased by 15% to 4.9 t/ha compared to 2022. Average regional yields vary from 3.1 t/ha in the North West and Merseyside to 6.3 t/ha in the North East.

Oilseed rape production decreased by 14% to 1.0 million tonnes in 2023. Despite an increase in area, the fall in production was driven by a 19% decrease in yield.

Figure 2: England crop yields between 2000 and 2023

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Figure 3: Provisional cereal and oilseed production in Enlgand between between 2000 and 2023

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Section 2 Methodology: Provisional estimates of 2023 UK wheat and barley production

2.1 England

Results are based on provisional results from the Cereal and Oilseed Rape Production Survey, a representative sample of cereal and oilseed rape growers across English regions and farm sizes. These early results are based on the valid responses from 1,572 farms (31% respondent rate).

The Cereal and Oilseed Rape Production Survey gathers data on production tonnages and moisture content for the various cereal and oilseed rape crops and seeks confirmation of the planted areas for these crops gathered from the June Census of Agriculture and Horticulture.

2.2 Moisture content adjustment

Production was typically standardised to 14.5% moisture content for cereals and 9.0% for oilseed rape but since 2022, following discussions with stakeholders, we agreed that the production data will only be adjusted for farms which have reported moisture content above 14.5% for cereals and 9.0% for oilseed rape. Any production data which has been reported with lower moisture contents has not been adjusted. In an average year this would make little difference to the production total, e.g. in 2021, this new approach would have reduced wheat production by only 0.1%.

This new methodology gives a more representative estimate of the volume of actual crop available for use in the industry.

The next edition of this release will include moisture content data broken down by regions. These data will be published in December 2023.

2.3 Data availability

In 2023 results for area, yield and production are for all Oilseed rape harvested in England. Fewer holdings grew Spring oilseed rape in 2023 and whilst all growers were sampled, we received too few responses from farmers growing Spring oilseed rape to be able to publish Winter and Spring production data separately. Winter sown oilseed rape accounts for 99% of the total oilseed rape area in England and covered 339 thousand hectares in 2023. The area of Spring oilseed rape decreased by 42% to under 4 thousand hectares.

England 2023 results will be updated and re-issued as part of the December 2023 United Kingdom release when Winter and Spring oilseed rape splits may become available.

2.4 Data notes

The cereal production (tonnage) figures include tail corn, cereals still to be harvested for grain, grain to be crimped and cereals intended for seed production. The figures exclude crops which have become unfit for harvesting, carryover stocks from the 2022 harvest, bought in grain and crops harvested as wholecrop for silage.

2.5 Final 2023 harvest statistics

Full UK results will be published on 14 December 2023 and will include the final harvest figures for England as well as those for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2.6 Feedback

We welcome feedback and any thoughts to improve the publication further. Please send any feedback to: Farming-Statistics@defra.gov.uk.

Section 3: What you need to know about this release

3.1 Contact details

The responsible statistician: Helen Mason

Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Email address: Farming-Statistics@defra.gov.uk

Telephone: 03000 600170

3.2 National statistics status

National Statistics are produced to high professional standards. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

The continued designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in 2014 following a compliance check by the UK Statistics Authority (now the Office for Statistics Regulation) against the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Since the last review of these statistics in 2014, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made improvements including:

• Providing a detailed breakdown of livestock categories following user feedback
• Improved the data quality by updating guidance for data providers and carrying out enhanced validation checks on data received

For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service:

Tel: 0845 601 3034

Email: info@statistics.gov.uk

You can find National Statistics on the internet on the Gov.uk website.