UK wheat production could rise 20 percent next year assuming average yields with the planted area set to climb 13 percent, analyst Susan Twining of crop consultants ADAS said on Tuesday.
"We have got an initial assessment in from around the regions and it looks like it (area) is going to be up about 13 percent this year," she said. "Yields were down last year and even if you work on average yields of 7.8 tonnes per hectare that takes production above 16 million tonnes which is a 20 percent increase," Twining added.
Britain's farm ministry has put this year's UK wheat crop at 13.36 million tonnes, down from 14.74 million last year with average yields at 7.3 tonnes versus 8.0 tonnes in 2006.
Twining said the rise in wheat area reflected the suspension of set-aside, the woes of Britain's livestock sector and high prices for the commodity. The EU agreed on September 26 to suspend a rule forcing farmers to leave some land fallow, known as set-aside, in a bid to increase grain supply at a time of shrinking stocks.