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Last year, 703.5 thsd ha of land were covered with cereals, which is 12.5 ha or 1.7% less than a year before. Regardless the fact that the sown area of cereals reduced and 70 thsd ha or 10% of the cereals were not harvested, harvested production of grain reached 2.7 mill t, which is only 10.7 thsd t or 0.4% less than in 2016.

Harvested production of grain was significantly influenced by the increase in average yield of winter cereals – from 46.8 q/ha in 2016 to 49.9 q/ha in 2017. Winter crops were harvested before weather turned into bad, and harvested production of winter grain exceeded that harvested last year by 109.8 thsd t or 6.2%. The average yield of winter wheat reached 51.5 q/ha (48.0 q/ha in 2016), and their share in the harvested production of grain went up from 58.6% in 2016 to 63.3% in 2017. Out of the total harvested production of winter wheat, 45% were harvested in Zemgale, where the average yield thereof reached 58.8 q/ha (55.5 q/ha in 2016).

The average yield of grain in agricultural holdings the cereal cropland in which exceeded 300 ha (44% of the total grain area in Latvia) exceeded the average yield of cereals in the country by 32% and reached 50.5 q/ha (45 q/ha in 2016). The areas gave 58% of all harvested production of grain.

The average yield of grain in agricultural holdings the sown areas of winter wheat whereof exceeded 300 ha (43% of the total winter wheat area) reached 60.8 q/ha (55.1 q/ha in 2016), producing 51.4% of the total harvested winter wheat.

Lasting autumn rains and floods hindered harvesting of spring cereals. Out of the total spring cereals sown in the country, 82% were harvested, moreover those were only 65% in Latgale region and 83% in Vidzeme regions, compared to 93% and 91% in Kurzeme and Pierīga regions, respectively.  In 2017, the average yield of spring cereals constituted 24.9 q/ha – it was 2.8 q lower than a year before, being the lowest yield recorded over the past six years.

In 2017, totally 2.4 mill t of grain were purchased – 26.4 thsd t or 1.1% more than a year ago. The average purchase prices of grain have risen from 132.31 EUR/t in 2016 to 143.63 EUR/t in 2017. The quality of grain purchased was higher than that observed a year before, which, in turn, had upward effect on the average purchase price of grain (up by 8.6%, compared to 2016). 

In 2017, wheat accounted for 86.1% of the grain purchased (83.7% in 2016); 67.3% of the volume met food quality requirements and 32.7% that of livestock feed. The share of food rye took 72.8% of the rye purchased.

Compared to the year before, the sown areas of rape increased by 16.3 thsd ha or 16.1%. Nevertheless the average rape yield from one hectare did not change (27.8 q/ha), the increase in the total rape area resulted in the rise in total harvested production of rape seeds (of 44.9 thsd t or 16.0%).

The sown areas of pulses kept growing. In 2017, the total area of pulses rose by 15.6 thsd ha or 37.4%. The increase was encouraged by the introduction of a new support payment for climate- and environment-friendly farming practices or agricultural greening as of 2015.

Autumn of 2017 was especially unfavourable also to holdings producing potatoes and vegetables. Compared to 2016, in 2017 planted area and harvested yield of potatoes fell by 2.6% and 16.9%, respectively, while the average yield thereof dropped from 211 q/ha to 180 q/ha. 

Last year, 157.1 thsd t of vegetables were produced (incl. yield in greenhouses), and it is 39.5 thsd t or 20.1% less than in 2016.  The area of open field vegetables diminished only by 0.1 thsd ha, whereas harvested production thereof dropped by 37.4 thsd t or 20.4%. The average yield of open field vegetables decreased from 225 q/ha in 2016 to 182 q/ha in 2017.

Out of the total vegetable production, 11.5 thsd t were produced in greenhouses, which is 15.9% less than in 2016.

Sown areas of agricultural crops (thousand hectares)

Harvested production and average yield of agricultural crops

¹Provisional data

More information on sown areas, harvested production and purchase of agricultural crops will be published on 30 April in the CSB database section Crop Production.