The Czech Republic’s harvest season has just begun. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, as of yesterday, farmers have harvested 2.5 percent of the cereal crops, equivalent to around 31,000 hectares of sown areas. Over 195,000 tonnes have been harvested, with the majority being winter barley. This is less than last year, when 3.6 percent of the cereal crops had been harvested.
The harvest began in the last week of June and is in its early stages. The State Agricultural Intervention Fund’s first survey revealed that 30,870 hectares of winter barley, or about a quarter of the sown areas, have been harvested in the South Moravian region, where the harvest started, as in previous years.
So far, farmers have harvested wheat from only 120 hectares, producing 552 tonnes, less than one-tenth of one percent of the sown areas. They have harvested 975 tonnes of rapeseed from 370 hectares, equivalent to 0.10 percent of the area.
Spring barley harvest has also begun, with 1,219 tonnes harvested from less than one-tenth of the sown areas. The harvest has not yet begun for rye, oats, and triticale, a cross between rye and wheat. According to the latest data, the average yield of cereals per hectare is 6.27 tonnes.
Farmers will harvest cereals from 1.245 million hectares this year, about 53,000 hectares less than last year. However, the area sown with rapeseed has increased by approximately 36,000 hectares to 379,943 hectares this year.
According to the Czech Statistical Office’s initial estimate last week, the harvest of basic cereals this year will decrease by 8.1 percent compared to last year’s above-average yield, to 6.955 million tonnes.
The expected yield decrease applies to wheat, barley, oats, and rye. In contrast, farmers are expected to harvest 1.223 million tonnes of rapeseed, a 4.9 percent increase from last year.