Wheat, barley and oat production declined by a fifth in 2023 – CSO

The production of the three main cereals in Ireland declined by a fifth in 2023 compared with the previous year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The production of wheat fell by 27.7%, barley by 17.8% and oats by 20.6%, or a total of 531,300 tonnes to 2,015,700 in 2023.

The wheat, barley and oat yield also dropped – by 12.8% (1.4 tonnes per hectare), 16.1% (1.3 tonnes per hectare), and 17.9% (1.5 tonnes per hectare) respectively.

The production of potatoes was down by 12.4%, or 45,800 tonnes, to 322,200 tonnes in 2023, and the potato yield decreased by 9.5%, from 43.4 tonnes per hectare to 39.2 tonnes per hectare.

In the case of beans and peas, production rose 23.8%, and oilseed rape production was up by 25.1%.

Sophie Emerson, CSO statistician in agriculture surveys, said the increases were driven by a 50% jump in the area sown.

“The production of beans and peas rose from 65,700 tonnes to 81,300 tonnes in 2023 (+23.8%) driven by an increase in the area sown of 5,400 hectares (+50.0%) and despite a reduction in the yield from 6.1 tonnes per hectare to five tonnes per hectare (-17.5%),” she said.

“The production of potatoes dropped from 368,000 tonnes in 2022 to 322,200 tonnes in 2023 (-12.4%), based on a 3.3% reduction in the area sown and a 9.5% fall in the yield per hectare.”