Overall production of the three main cereal crops (wheat, oats and barley) increased by 82,000t (3.5%) to 2,393,000t in 2017, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

According to the figures, which were released by the CSO today (Wednesday, March 28), overall cereal yield increased by 6.8% to 8.8t per hectare; while the total area under cereals decreased by 8,700ha (-3.1%) to 271,700ha.

The production of spring barley increased by 9.4% or 78,000t, while the production of winter barley decreased by 8.1% (-52,000t) in 2017.

The yield of potatoes increased by 15.4% from 38.9t per hectare in 2016 to 44.9 tonnes per hectare in 2017, resulting in an increase in production of 60,000t (17.2%) to 412,000t.

In terms of methodology, the yield figures provided by the CSO are given on a “green” (as harvested) basis.

The winter wheat yield refers to feed wheat, according to the CSO. Similarly, the spring barley yield refers to feed barley. The oilseed rape yield is a weighted average of the winter and spring yield.

The bean and pea yield is the weighted average of pea and bean yield.

For potatoes, the early crop yield was applied on an estimate of the area sown under early potato varieties in each county. The main crop yield was applied to the remaining area.