There was a decrease in crop yields for barley, wheat, oats and potatoes in Northern Ireland this year, according to the Crop Yields and Production Estimates report issued by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) on Thursday.

The estimates for cereal yields were obtained from a post-harvest survey of 235 growers. Total production of barley has decreased to approximately 125,000t due to a reduction in the area planted, adverse weather conditions and lower yield. The overall area planted was 2% less than 2015 levels; the area of spring crops decreased by 6%, whereas the area of winter crops increased by 9%. Winter and spring barley yields decreased by 12% and 9% respectively from 2015 yield figures; winter crops yielded 6.8t/ha on average, while spring was at 5t/ha.

Meanwhile, the area of wheat planted increased by 8% on 2015 levels. However, production decreased by 6% to 60,000t due to yields falling to 7t/ha.

Total production of oats remained relatively unchanged from 2015 at 12,100t. Yields decreased by 9% to 5.4t/ha but was compensated for by a 9% increase in area planted to 2,300ha.

Potato estimates were derived from a survey involving pre-harvest digs covering potato crops on approximately 75 farms.

The production estimate of maincrop ware and seed potatoes is 129,700t, a 2% decrease from 2015. The area planted increased by 4% this year to 3,700ha, but yields fell by 6%.

Provisional results from DEFRA show that total UK yields of barley, wheat and oats have also decreased compared with 2015.

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