England's oilseed rape area falls to 16-year low

Overall barley area has remained largely static, although more winter barley has been planted and the area of spring barley reduced.

Challenges

AHDB analyst Peter Collier says: “The challenges being faced with oilseed rape have resulted in the lowest area since 2003.

"In place of OSR has been an increased cereal area. With potentially good yields and Brexit uncertainty, a greater importance should be placed on marketing grain effectively."

The survey also found:

• GB wheat area is estimated at 1.802 million hectares, a 4 per cent increase from last year.
• GB spring barley area is estimated at 708,000ha, down 4 per cent from 2018.
• GB winter barley area is estimated at 422,000ha, 11 per cent higher on the year.
• Area of OSR in England and Scotland is estimated at 514,000ha, down 11 per cent from 2018.
• Area of oats in England and Scotland is estimated at 178,000ha, an 8 per cent increase from 2018.

The full survey results are available to download at: cereals.ahdb.org.uk/markets/survey-results.aspx