The grain cultivation area will grow by 100,000 hectares compared with 2010; the area is now approximately 1,111,000 hectares. The area will partly recover from the 200,000 hectare drop recorded last year. The grain cultivation area constitutes almost half of all the utilised agricultural area, which amounts to approximately 2.3 million hectares. According to Tike's (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) advance information, oat and wheat areas will grow the most, but barley and rye areas will grow as well. The turnip rape area will be halved from last year.

This year the wheat area will be 256,000 hectares, i.e. 20% larger than in 2010. Wheat is being cultivated more than it has in a long time. The wheat area was largest in Finland in the 1960’s. Wheat was cultivated most in 1962 when the wheat area was 286,000 hectares. The wheat area was smallest just before Finland’s EU membership in 1994, amounting to 89,000 hectares.

This year the oat area will be 328,000 hectares, showing an almost 11% increase from the historically small area recorded last year. The oat area hit an all-time low in 2010 based on one hundred years of statistical data. The oat area was largest in Finland in 1975 when it totalled 572,000 hectares.

No appreciable changes in the barley area

Barley, the mostly widely cultivated grain in Finland, has been sown on 469,000 hectares this year. Although the area will grow slightly (+5%) compared with 2010, it is small compared with previous years. The barley area fell by as much as 152,000 hectares in 2010 from 2009.  The barley area was largest in Finland in 1988, with a total of 683,000 hectares.

This year the rye area will be 29,000 hectares. This is 4,000 hectares more than in 2010. The rye cultivation area has varied considerably (from 9,000 to 83,0000 hectares) in the past three decades. Annual changes in the sown rye area, mainly consisting of winter rye, are largely attributable to the sowing conditions in autumn, although farmers’ sowing decisions also depend on their expectations for the price of future harvest yields. The rye area was largest in Finland in 1934, when it was as much as 234,000 hectares.

Turnip rape area to recover to the 2009 level

The turnip rape area is approximately 79,000 hectares, i.e. 45% less than in 2010. Last year turnip rape cultivation reached an all-time record of 142,000 hectares, which is double the size of the area recorded in 2009. This year the turnip rape area will thus recover to the level recorded before 2010. Statistics have been drawn up of the turnip rape area since 1951, at which time the area was 5,000 hectares. The turnip rape area doubled in the 1980’s, almost reaching a steady level between 60,000 and 80,000 hectares. The large turnip rape area recorded in 2010 is therefore an all-time record in the history of turnip rape cultivation in Finland.

The fallow area, 272,000 hectares, is 35,000 hectares less than in 2010. The fallow area for 2010 was the largest in two decades, though it was not even close to the large fallow areas recorded in the 1990s. The area covered by uncultivated fallow land was largest in 1994, a total of 528,000 hectares.

Background to the statistics

Tike's advance estimate of utilised agricultural area is based on information on subsidy application forms submitted by farmers by 29 April 2011.  The results represent the situation on 29 May 2011, at which time approximately 94% of the data on cultivated parcels had been recorded. The assumption in the advance estimate is that that utilised agricultural area at the regional level will be the same as in the previous year, unless the recorded area exceeds the last year's area. Farmers may communicate changes to sown areas up to 15 June, so the areas may still change.

Tike will publish advance information based on more extensive data on the utilised agricultural area in its Matilda agricultural statistics service (www.agriculturalstatistics.fi) on 21 June. Regional data will also be available at that time.

Contact information

Tike, Statistical Services
Head of Statistics Unit Anneli Partala, tel. +358 20 77 21376
Researcher Mirva Kokkinen, tel. +358 20 77 21371
E-mail addresses are in the format: forename.surname@mmmtike.fi