{"id":6113,"date":"2012-10-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/wheat-yield-hits-30-year-low\/"},"modified":"2012-10-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-21T11:00:00","slug":"wheat-yield-hits-30-year-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/wheat-yield-hits-30-year-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheat yield hits 30-year low"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Appalling weather conditions have been blamed for the poor growing season, with wheat yields down 14% on the five-year average.<\/p>\n

The gloomy situation has had a knock-on effect on livestock farmers who are now under greater pressure to buy-in winter feed.<\/p>\n

NFU chief combinable crops adviser Guy Gagen said the 2012 harvest was one many would want to forget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abnormally high rainfall across the UK since early summer this year has depressed wheat yields,\u201d Gagen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout considerable investment by our farmers in recent years, the results for wheat could have been much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arable farmer Andrew Pitts, who grows wheat and oilseed rape in Northamptonshire, said few farmers had come out unscathed this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOilseed rape has gone the same way as the wheat, down 20% to 25% due to the actual weight of the grains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oilseed rape is all plant and no seed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the wheat, the grains are tiny. Specific weights are in the middle 60s as opposed to the high 70s and early 80s which we had last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitts, who finished drilling next year\u2019s wheat last week, said the 2013 crop would also be adversely affected by the poor soil conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just a harvest 2012 issue. It\u2019s a harvest 2013 issue in a big way, due to the time of the drilling combined with a poor soil bed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The pig and poultry sectors are expected to take one of the biggest hits as feed prices continue to rise.<\/p>\n

Pig producer Andy Zambanini, who farms in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, predicted soaring feed prices could force even more farmers out of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWheat prices have been high for a while now so producers were already under a lot of pressure but this could push many over the edge,\u201d Zambanini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had to drop our prices and when you\u2019re paying \u00a3300 a tonne for pig feed, which is due to go up 25%, it\u2019s not surprising people are selling up.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the NFU survey found other major arable crops grown had performed well despite the difficult conditions.<\/p>\n

Gagen added \u201cMuch of the 2013 rapeseed crop is now planted and up and farmers will be looking for further breaks in the weather to complete winter cereal crop planting.\u201d<\/p>\n

– UK Farmers Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arable farmers in Britain have reported their worst wheat yields in almost 30 years, according to the National Farmers Union harvest survey.\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t