UK: Spring barley area seen falling 7.7% in 2022

Britain's wheat area is expected to be higher for the 2022 harvest, boosted by favourable planting conditions and soaring prices, according to a planting survey issued on November 19, the Successful Farming reported.

The wheat area was seen at 1.81 million hectares, up 1.3% from the 2021 harvest, Britain's Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, said issuing results of an early bird survey.

"An increase in expected wheat cropping will not be surprising for many, considering the favourable autumn drilling conditions combined with current high UK feed wheat prices," the AHDB said.

UK feed wheat prices are trading around nine-year highs, driven by tightening global supplies.

The rapeseed area was seen up 12.9% at 345,000 hectares, also boosted by high global prices for the oilseed.

"With forward prices for rapeseed attractive, many might have been expecting a larger area rebound ... High input prices and the persistent issue of cabbage stem flea beetle may be capping gains in UK area grown," the AHDB said.

Favourable autumn drilling conditions look set to reduce the area devoted to spring planted crops, predominately barley.

The spring barley area was seen falling 7.7% to 688,000 hectares.

The survey is carried out each autumn to assess national cropping intentions. It is undertaken by The Andersons Centre, with the help of the Association of Independent Crop Consultants (AICC) and other agronomists.

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