Provisional cereal and oilseed production estimates for England 2025
Updated 9 October 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cereal-and-oilseed-rape-production/provisional-cereal-and-oilseed-production-estimates-for-england-2025
This release contains the first estimate of the 2025 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 2025.
For detailed area, yield and production results go to the accompanying data set.
Key points
-
The majority of the main cereal crops saw reductions in yields in 2025 compared to the previous year, with winter barley the exception. Overall yields fell below the five-year average with variability between regions.
- The provisional estimate for the 2025 English wheat harvest is 10.6 million tonnes, a 4.9% increase on 2024, largely due to an 8.8% increase in area.
- The 2025 English barley harvest is provisionally estimated at 4.2 million tonnes, a 14% decrease on 2024, driven by a 23% fall in spring barley and a 2.2% decline in winter barley production.
- Oat production fell by 2.3% in 2025, despite a 9.4% increase in area, as yields declined by 11%.
- Oilseed rape saw a 29% increase in yield compared to 2024 and was 17% above the five-year average. This resulted in a 5.5% increase in production to 722 thousand tonnes in 2025.
- Straw production varied across the main cereal crops and oilseed rape. Wheat straw production is estimated to remain steady at 2.6 million tonnes, Barley straw production, however, fell in 2025 by 27% to 1.2 million tonnes.
Section 1: Area, yield, production and straw
Initial good weather meant that the 2025 harvest progressed quickly, with many growers finishing ahead of a typical year. However, in September, wet weather hindered the ability to harvest remaining crops towards the end of the season, resulting in a mixed picture across the country with considerable variability in yield between regions.
1.1 Areas
Figure 1: England crop areas between 2003 and 2025
The wheat area in 2025 increased by 8.8%, while spring and winter barley saw decreases of 16% and 7.2% respectively. The area planted with oats rose by 9.4%, from 148 thousand hectares to 162 thousand hectares (Figure 1). All cereal crop areas were below their five-year averages, with the exception of oats.
The area planted with oilseed rape decreased by 18% in 2025, falling from 250 thousand hectares in 2024 to 204 thousand hectares. This area sits below the five-year average and continues the downward trend observed since 2012.
1.2 Yields and production
The provisional estimate for the 2025 English wheat harvest is 10.6 million tonnes, representing a 4.9% increase on the previous year. This is attributed to increases in the planted area across all regions, with the overall area increasing by 8.8% to 1.5 million hectares. However, average yield declined by 3.6% to 7.0 tonnes per hectare (t/ha). Wheat production rose in both the North and the Midlands regions, with the North East showing the largest increases in both production and yield. In contrast, the South West saw the largest proportional decline, with production down 4.6% to 908 thousand tonnes.
The provisional estimate for the 2025 English barley harvest is 4.2 million tonnes, representing a 14% decline compared to 2024. This drop is driven by a 23% decrease in spring barley production and a 2.2% fall in winter barley. Although winter barley yields increased by 5.3% to 6.5 t/ha, the overall impact was offset by an 8.1% decline in spring barley yields to 5.0 t/ha, contributing to the downward trend in total production. Barley production fell across most regions, with the Eastern region seeing the largest proportional decline, a 22% reduction in production compared to the previous year.
In 2025, oats production declined by 2.3%, falling to 755 thousand tonnes, and yield also dropped by 11% to 4.6 t/ha compared to 2024. Regional yields varied significantly, with the North East achieving the highest average yield at 5.3 t/ha, while the South West recorded the lowest at 4.0 t/ha.
Oilseed rape production rose by 5.5% in 2025 to 722 thousand tonnes, despite an 18% reduction in planted area. The increase was driven by a 29% increase in overall yield, with all regions seeing increases, though yields varied across the country.
Figure 2: England crop yields between 2003 and 2025
Figure 3: Provisional cereal and oilseed production in England between 2003 and 2025
In 2025, straw production varied across the main cereal crops and oilseed rape, reflecting shifts in crop areas and yields.
Wheat straw production remained dominant, holding steady at 2,550 thousand tonnes, unchanged from 2024. Barley straw output fell by 27% to 1,225 thousand tonnes, while oats straw declined by 8.5% to 193 thousand tonnes. In contrast, oilseed rape straw is estimated to increase by 55% to 62 thousand tonnes (Figure 4).
Figure 4: England straw production between 2014 and 2025
The most common use for straw was sold/exchanged for feed/bedding, accounting for 43% of straw production, followed by home use bedding/feed, accounting for a further 32% of straw production (Figure 5). This has continued the trend seen in 2024, where more straw is being sold or exchanged than kept for use on the farm.
Figure 5: Usage of straw in England as a percentage of productions between 2022 and 2025
| Year | Home use bedding/feed | Home use biomass | Home use for other purposes | Sold/ exchanged for feed / bedding | Sold for biomass | Sold for other purposes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41% | 1% | 1% | 34% | 11% | 12% | 100% |
| 2023 | 41% | 1% | 1% | 35% | 8% | 15% | 100% |
| 2024 | 34% | 1% | 1% | 41% | 10% | 13% | 100% |
| 2025 | 32% | 1% | 0% | 43% | 12% | 12% | 100% |
Notes:
- The sum of the components may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Section 2 Methodology: Provisional estimates of 2025 England cereal and oilseed rape 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 1,308 farms (26% response 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. The survey also gathers data on straw tonnage for these crops as well as straw production end usage.
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 above 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.
For detailed moisture content results for England and the English regions go to the accompanying data set
2.3 Changes to survey design
There are no changes to the survey in 2025.
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 2024 harvest, bought in grain and crops harvested as wholecrop for silage.
2.5 Revisions
A clerical error for the 2024 oilseed rape production figure for England has been corrected. This has affected the England yield and UK total production and yield, which have also been changed.
Regional areas for June 2024 have been replaced with the final breakdowns from the June Survey of Agriculture. Regional yields have been recalculated as a result, although any changes are very minor. National areas, yields and all production figures remain unchanged (which the exception of England and UK oilseed rape, as mentioned above).
2.6 Final 2025 harvest statistics
Full UK results will be published on 11th December 2025 and will include the final harvest figures for England as well as those for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
2.7 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: Will Drabble
Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Email address: Farming-Statistics@defra.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 600170
3.2 Accredited official statistics
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details above). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:
- Reviewed and amended the validation checks carried out on response data including validation against new administrative data sources to better assure ourselves of the quality of the statistics.
- Enhanced trustworthiness by removing pre-release access.