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Production of cereals, dried pulses, oilseed crops and temporary grasses 2018. Preliminary statistics for counties and the whole country

Roughage production decreased substantially

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Board of Agriculture 2018-12-14 9.30

The past summer’s drought and high temperatures not only led to reduced production of cereals and oilseeds. Production of temporary grasses also decreased substantially, by one fifth, compared with 2017. Due to a shortage of roughage, larger cereal crop acreages than usual have been harvested as silage rather than as grain.

The total harvest of:

  • cereals amounted to 3.25 million tonnes. This is a decline of 2.7 million tonnes, which corresponds to 45 percent, compared with 2017;
  • rape and turnip rape amounted to 217 800 tonnes. This is a decline of 160 000 tonnes, which corresponds to 42 percent, compared with 2017;
  • temporary grasses amounted to 3.3 million tonnes dry substances (0 percent moisture content). This is a decline of roughly 0.8 million tonnes, which corresponds to 20 percent, compared with 2017; and
  • peas and field beans decreased by roughly 33 000 tonnes and 75 000 tonnes respectively. This year’s total harvest of field beans was less than one third of the corresponding total harvest in 2017.

Production from temporary grasses decreased most in Jönköping, Kalmar and Skåne counties

Jönköping, Kalmar and Skåne counties reported the largest yield loss of production from temporary grasses; total yield was 35-38 percent lower than in 2017. The hectare yields were between 27 percent and 32 percent lower than in 2017 in all areas of production, with the exception of the upper parts of Norrland and the plain districts in Svealand. This is explained by the fact that yields in these areas were also low in 2017. Other than lower production from temporary grasses, pasturage also dried up, which meant that many farmers were forced to start using the harvest intended for winter fodder as backup feed as early as in the summer.

Areas increased, but hectare yield of cereals for roughage halved

The cereal area (excluding maize) harvested as silage increased from 45 600 hectares in 2017 to roughly 98 300 hectares in 2018. However, since the hectare yield was halved, the total quantity of cereal produced as roughage is practically equivalent to the 2017 quantity. This is despite the fact that many farmers had two yields in the areas, well into the autumn. In Jönköping County, more than half of all cereals were produced as silage, compared with 16 percent in 2017. In Kronoberg County, 38 percent was produced as silage. The hectare yield of maize as silage (which normally copes better during droughts), was 31 percent less than in 2017 and total production decreased by roughly 55 000 tonnes (0 percent moisture content). To enable comparison between different types of green fodder (silage and hay) with different water content, all quantities of roughage have been recalculated and reported with 0 percent moisture content. Normally, silage has a 30 percent moisture content, and hay has a 16.5 percent moisture content.

Production from fallow land and other arable land yielded 180 000 tonnes

In mid-June, the Swedish Board of Agriculture granted a general exemption for harvest of fallow land and non-cultivated field margins reported as organic focus areas. Many farmers with a shortage of roughage harvested fallow land, sowings of leys, regrowth on grass-seed leys after threshing of grass seed and similar acreages of arable land. Production from these other areas amounted to roughly 180 000 tonnes of dry substance. The harvested area amounted to 88 000 hectares. The variation between farms that reported production from other areas is large, from 0.5 to 250 hectares, depending on access to areas and the need for extra roughage.

Extremely low production levels among all crops throughout the country

This summer’s drought and heat led to crop failure and low production levels in all parts of the country. Stockholm, Uppsala, Gotland, Skåne and Västmanland counties are among the counties where one or more crops yielded on average less than half of normal production. In Gotland County, hectare yield of spring barley was 56 percent lower than the previous year, and in Skåne County, it was 51 percent lower than the previous year. In many cases, farmers have only been able to harvest one fifth, or nothing at all, of their normal production.

Publication

A more detailed report of this survey for individual crops, counties and production areas has been published in the Statistical Report and on the Swedish Board of Agriculture's website www.jordbruksverket.se under Statistics.

Statistical databases

Time series with the final production statistics are available in Statistics Sweden's Statistical Database and in the statistical database of the Swedish Board of Agriculture www.jordbruksverket.se. With regard to some of the crops, there are time series with harvest statistics from 1913.

Next publishing will be

Final results for 2018 will be published in April 2019. These yield statistics are based on the data from all forms of cultivation that occur in the country. Yield statistics on organic and conventional cultivation will be published in June 2019.

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.

Statistical agency

Swedish Board of Agriculture

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statistik@jordbruksverket.se

Enquiries

Ann-Marie Karlsson

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Producer

SCB, Agriculture and Energy Statistics Unit

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Enquiries

Gerda Ländell

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+46 10 479 68 07
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gerda.landell@scb.se