Winter wheat yield and area drove 2025’s cereal output lift

There was a 15% rise in wheat, barley and oats output last year when compared with 2024, new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.

The volume increase of 299,000t to 2.3m tonnes was driven by a 11,900ha lift in the cereals area planted, as well as yield boosts from all major crop types, aside from spring barley.

Winter wheat saw the largest increase in area, as 19,100ha or 47% more was planted under this crop type than had been the case a year prior.

This higher area, when combined with a yield rise of 1.7t/ha, saw winter wheat’s output up three-quarters year on year to 268,900t.

Yield increases

Further yield increases of 1t/ha and 0.4t/ha were witnessed for winter barley and winter oats respectively.

The 18,000ha of winter oats and 57,000ha of winter barley harvested represented increases of 140% and 32% on 2024’s levels.

The boost in winter cropping came at the expense of spring barley’s area, which fell by 17% or 22,900ha.

The beans and peas area dropped 4,200ha to 14,700ha, while there was a drop of over one-quarter in the area under oilseed rape, which declined to 11,800ha in 2025.

An almost 25% jump in oilseed rape yields was not sufficient to counteract the lower area planted and output fell 11% to 59,500t.