Finland’s grain harvest totalled 2,7 billion kilogrammes in 2018 according to the preliminary statistics. It may stay under one percent of the EU’s total grain harvest, which has exceeded 300 billion kilogrammes over the recent years. The largest grain producer may again be France. Germany produced 46 billion kilogrammes, while Poland 31 billion kilogrammes in 2017, the 2018 production figures for these countries are not yet available.
Finland’s wheat harvest in 2018 was as low as 500 million kilogrammes. This yield is over one-third less than in the previous year. The aggregate wheat harvest for the EU (28 countries) was 152 billion kilogrammes in 2017, and in 2018 the EU Commission estimates to get 138 billion kilogrammes of wheat, or 8% less than in 2017. The largest wheat producing countries are France with 36 billion kilos and Germany with 21 billion. United Kingdom was the third largest wheat producer in 2017 with 15 billion and Poland with 11 billion kilos of wheat – 2018 production estimate is not available for the UK.
Wheat production in Europe
In 2018, the rye harvest was only 41 million kilogrammes in Finland. The drop is notable compared to 2017, when it amounted to 141 million kilogrammes. The two largest producers of rye are Germany and Poland. Both countries produced over two billion kilos again in 2018. The total rye harvest in the EU may total less than 6,2 billion kilos in 2018, so the Finnish share would be less than one percent.
Rye production in Europe
Barley is the largest grain crop in Finland by volume. In 2018 barley harvest in Finland totalled 1.3 billion kilogrammes, whereas the aggregate barley harvest in the EU (28 countries) came to 56 billion kilogrammes, which means that Finland accounts for 2% of the total. The biggest barley producers are France with 11.2 billion kilos, Germany with 9.6 billion, Spain with 9.0 billion and the United Kingdom with 6.6 billion kilos.
Barley production in Europe
In 2018, Finland’s oat harvest totalled 820 million kilogrammes. The aggregate oat harvest in the EU (28 countries) amounted to 7.7 billion kilogrammes in 2016, which means that Finland accounts for 12% of the total. Finland drops to be the third largest producer of oats, provided Spain’s estimated record yield of 1.5 billion kilos is realised. Hence Poland would lose the leading place with only 1.2 billion kilos. Oat harvest in Sweden has almost halved – the current estimate is 340 million kilos.
Oats production in Europe
Database tables
Wheat production volumes in Europe
Rye production volumes in Europe
Barley production volumes in Europe
Oats production volumes in Europe
Photo in upper edge: Csaba Jansik