The latest figures released by the UK government show that the total area under arable crops in Northern Ireland rose between 2018 and 2019 by 258ha.

However, as Table 1 shows, from 2011 this represents the second-lowest cropping area during that period.

Winter wheat returned to more normal acreage last year (2019) to around 8,100ha, up 18% from 2018. The winter planting season in 2017 and the following spring planting season were very difficult in Northern Ireland and could account for the decrease in arable area in 2018.

2019 saw the lowest area of barley sown over the nine year period at 19,700ha. While still the largest cereal crop in the country by a significant margin, area was back 5% of 2018 levels.

Oat levels tend to fluctuate between 1,800ha and 2,250haha and in 2019, planted area came in at 1,868ha.

Potatoes also recorded a small increase in area whereas the area of other horticultural crops decreased slightly.

A changing cropping landscape

Another recently updated and released database which provides a glimpse into Northern Ireland’s changing land use is the country’s historical cereal cropping area.

UK records on Northern Ireland’s cereal area dates back to the cropping season after the partition of Ireland in 1921-1922. The figures detail the rise and fall of barley, oat and wheat areas.

The standout trend is the collapse of oat area. When Ireland’s agricultural industry relied on horses for field work, oats were an important source of feed. In 1922, the oat area in Northern Ireland amounted to around 144,000ha.

Horses were once a key source of farm power.

From then we saw a gradual decrease in area until 1937. By that year, oat area had decreased to 104,000ha. However, between the periods of 1938 to 1942 we saw the area of oats rapidly increase by 88,000ha to peak at 192,000ha. This rapid increase in oat area coincided with World War II.

From 1946 however, we saw a steady yearly decrease and from 1974 onwards, oat area failed to rise above 10,000ha. In 2019 the area of oats amounted to just 1,900 ha.

Barley and wheat

Barley area failed to rise about 10,000ha until around 1958 where the area began to increase substantially. Increases in area continued before it peaked at 74,000ha in 1965.

This increase may partially be attributed to a reduction in the need to grow oats, but also in response to an increase demand for grain to feed a growing livestock population.

From 1966 onwards, we saw a steady reduction in barley area, a trend that continued into this decade. In 2019 the barley area amounted to just under 20,000ha.

Wheat area remained consistently low until the 1980s when the area began to grow steadily. The availability of new fungicides increasing the feasibility of growing the crop may partially explain this rise.

With that said, the area under wheat didn’t rise above 10,000ha until 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, the area remained between 10,000 and 12,000ha, before dropping to 8,000ha in 2019.

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