Teagasc has just released its Harvest Report for 2018.
The report details average crop yields from the harvest just gone. While moisture and quality were very good, the obvious downside from the summer drought was that yields were back.
Winter crops had the best story to tell during the 2018 harvest; increased grain prices also made for good reading.
Teagasc crops specialist Ciaran Collins explained that it’s important to note that while average yields are listed, there were huge variations across the country. The south and east suffered most as a result of the drought conditions.
Average crop yields and quality figures are detailed below.
Spring barley
The average yield from spring barley was 5.6t/ha (2.3t/ac). This is below the five-year average of 7.2t/ha (2.91t/ac). It’s also the lowest average yield since 2002. Average grain moisture was 17.5% and KPH was 63.9.
Winter barley
Crop yields ranged from 6.9t/ha (2.8t/ac) to 10.5t/ha (4.3t/ac) and averaged 8.8t/ha (3.56t/ac). This is 0.3t/ha lower than the 2017 figure. Average KPH was 65 and moisture content was 17.2%.
Winter wheat
The average winter wheat yield was 8.9t/ha (3.6t/ac). The five-year average is 10.6t/ha (4.3t/ac), so this is substantially lower. Quality was good, with an average KPH of 74.3 and moisture content of 17.9%.
Winter oats
The winter oats area was down 30% from 2017 to 10,100ha. Average yields stood at 7.8t/ha (3.2t/ac). By contrast, the average yield in 2017 was 8.6t/ha (3.5t/ac).
Quality varied, but averaged at a KPH of 53.4 and a moisture content of 16.7%.
Average yields for some of the smaller crop areas are listed in the table below.