50% of fields in Finland cultivated by cereals

More than one million hectares of the total field area in the country were cultivated by cereals in 2018, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

Feed barley covered more than one-third and oats nearly one-third of the total area, said a press release on Thursday.

Rye made up less than two per cent of the total cultivated area. Buckwheat has gained ground, with its area being roughly 2,200 hectares last year, comprising 0.2 per cent of the total area.

“In recent years, the cultivated area of cereals has decreased slightly. Last summer, exceptionally small areas were sown to winter rye and wheat, as not all planned cereals were sown due to the rainy autumn of 2017”, said Anneli Partala, senior statistician of Luke.

The proportion of feed grass from the total area has increased in recent years. One-third of the total area, i.e. 763,000 hectares, was covered by feed grass. This area mainly consisted of silage feed, showing an increase of approximately 20,000 hectares.

In 2003, the caraway area was roughly 7,000 hectares. Ever since, its cultivation has expanded, breaking a new record last year at 27,700 hectares. This area is much higher than the cultivated area of potatoes, peas or broad beans, and slightly higher than that of oilseed turnip rape.

“Somero and Salo are the largest municipalities in terms of caraway cultivation. Last year, the caraway area increased by roughly 750 hectares on a total of 38 farms in Somero”, Partala said.