Drought and autumn rains reduced cereal and potato harvests

According to current calculations, the yields of several crops harvested from Finnish fields have been small. The barley harvest was almost a third, the potato harvest a sixth, the wheat harvest a tenth and the broad bean and caraway harvest half smaller than on average during the last ten years. This information is based on preliminary data for the crop production statistics of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). The final crop production statistics will be completed in early 2024.

Drought in early summer and wet conditions later in summer reduced crop yields and quality.

“This year, cereals for use in food production are expected to be used as feed to some extent, and smaller volumes will also be burned. As the smaller potato yield will increase sorting and storage losses, a smaller part of the harvest than normal will be delivered to shops,” says Anneli Partala, Senior Statistician at Luke.

Cereal harvest less than three million tons

The cereal harvest mainly consists of our four main cereals: barley, oats, wheat, and rye. The barley harvest of roughly 1.1 million tons was nearly a third, the wheat harvest of 730,000 tons roughly a tenth and the oat harvest of a million tons a few per cent smaller than normal. Only the rye harvest of 90,000 tons was by almost a tenth higher than the ten-year average.

The smallest potato harvest in ten years

The potato harvest was slightly less than 500,000 tons. Not all potatoes have been harvested from wet fields, as a fifth is estimated to have remained unharvested. The statistics show that, previously, the potato harvest has only been less than 500,000 tons in 1923, 1981, 1987 and 2012. The largest potato yields were harvested in the 1940s–1960s, with the annual harvest being almost two billion kilos at its highest.

Peas have gained ground – harvest slightly smaller than last year

Pea production has expanded in the last few years so that this year’s pea area was the largest so far, approaching 40,000 hectares. However, the pea harvest of approximately 90,000 tons was a few per cent smaller than in the previous year, regardless of the larger pea area.

Organic oat harvest started to decrease – organic rye harvest increased by a third

Oat is the main cereal in organic production. The organic oat harvest increased until last year. This year’s harvest of roughly 84,000 tons was a quarter smaller than in the previous year. In contrast, the organic rye harvest increased by a third. The organic rye harvest of roughly 13,000 tons accounts for 14 per cent of Finland’s total rye harvest.

Adjustments to 2022 crop production statistics

The data of the 2022 crop production statistics have been adjusted due to an error detected during data processing. While the adjustment concerns nearly all crops included in the statistics, its impact is relatively small. Total crop-specific yields in the whole country have been adjusted to be 0–6.3 per cent smaller. For example, the oat harvest decreased by approximately 29,000 tons, or 2.5 per cent. As a result, the total oat harvest decreased from 1.203 to 1.174 million tons.

Crop production statistics include all key crops in Finland

The preliminary crop production statistics on the 2023 harvest are based on data obtained from approximately 4,300 farms, some 560 of which are organic farms. This autumn, data about harvest levels will be collected from approximately 6,000 farms. The collection of harvest data will end at the beginning of December, and the final 2023 crop production statistics will be completed in February–March 2024. You can subscribe to the final statistics at https://www.luke.fi/en/form/subscribe-to-releases 

The level of domestic crop production regarding key crops has been monitored in Finland for more than a hundred years. Historical data and data about the level of crop production in different parts of Finland are available in Luke’s statistical database. From this year, the data will be published by region, whereas the previous years’ data have been divided between the regions of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

The crop production statistics indicate the harvest levels of the following crops in Finland: rye, wheat, barley, oats, turnip rape, rapeseed, potato, sugar beet, pea, caraway, dry hay, and silage fodder. Organic harvest data are available starting from 2006.

See statistics data related to the news in the statistical publication. Here are also some other useful statistics.