2020 sees 3rd lowest cereal harvest in 2000’s

The 2020 harvest level of barley, the main cereal in the cereal harvest, fell one-fifth behind the average level, as did the harvest levels of wheat and rye. The oat harvest, however, exceeded the 10-year average by one-tenth, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

“The cereal harvest of nearly 3.3 million tonnes is sufficient to cover the annual domestic consumption of approximately 2.8 million tonnes. Although this volume is sufficient, it does not fully meet our demands for consumption. In addition, one-third of our oat harvest, or roughly 300 million kilos, has mainly ended up on European dinner tables”, said Luke senior Statistician Anneli Partala.

The rye harvest of roughly 66,000 tonnes is estimated to be sufficient for consumption of seven to eight months in Finland. During poor harvest years, rye has been imported into Finland. This year, however, there is still rye in stock after the high harvest year of 2019, reducing the pressure to import rye.

Pea cultivation has been resurrected. This year’s pea harvest is the highest in the 100-year history of the statistics, and markets are showing green light for peas. The future of peas and broad beans as a domestic source of feed proteins is looking promising, and their use as food is also increasing.

Instead, turnip rape and rapeseed cultivation has decreased due to low harvest levels. The 2020 turnip rape and rapeseed harvest is the lowest in the history of the statistics kept since the 1970’s.

The organic field area already exceeded the mark of one-tenth of the total field area a few years ago. Even though the organic area is still characterised by large grasslands, the total organic cultivation area is increasing.

The organic oat harvest increased by 5% from that in the previous year to approximately 80,000 tonnes, accounting for 7% of Finland’s total oat harvest. In Finland, organic oats have been both imported and exported in recent years.