Wheat area in Britain is up a marginal 1 percent while rapeseed showed a more significant 9 percent rise, the Home-Grown Cereals Authority said on Monday issuing results of a planting survey on crops to be harvested this summer.
"Following last year's increase of 14 percent in the oilseed rape area, we have seen another 9 percent increase in the plantings for harvest 2011 indicating the strong profitability for the crop at the time of planting," senior analyst Jack Watts said in a statement.
Rapeseed area was seen at 696,000 hectares, the largest ever recorded, and wheat at 1.94 million hectares. The survey covers England, Scotland and Wales but not Northern Ireland so results are not directly comparable with data for the UK. The survey showed a 10 percent rise in spring barley area to 571,000 hectares but an 8 percent fall in winter barley to 344,000 hectares. Spring barley is often used by the malting industry to produce beer and spirits while winter barley is more commonly used for animal feed.
"The overall increase in total barley area has come as a result of strong malting premiums for spring barley in the run-up to last year's harvest, and the difficult sowing conditions for root crops this autumn may also have contributed," Watts said.