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According to Tike´s advance harvest estimates, this year´s cereal harvest will reach 4.2 billion kilos. The grain crop is 460 million kilos higher than last year. 80% of the harvest is feed grain: 2.0 billion kilos of barley and 1.3 billion kilos of oats. The rye harvest is 87 million kilos, or 37 million kilos more than the harvest of 2006. More accurate harvest figures will be available in January 2008, when Tike publishes the final harvest statistics for 2007. Cereal harvest for 2007 4.2 billion kilos

The quality of the Finnish grain harvest is good. Half of the wheat is of bread grain quality and 42 % of the malting barley is of malting quality. 94 % of the oats fulfil the general quality requirements set by the feed industry. Only barley is of lower quality than last year. Even so, 71 % of the barley exceeds the 64 kg hectolitre weight. Tike and Evira have compiled the advance information on the 2007 harvest. The final harvest information will be published in January 2008. Half of the wheat is of bread grain quality

According to Tike's second advance estimate, the harvest outlook is bright at the start of the threshing season. The grain crop may reach 4 billion kilograms, which is approx. 250 million kilograms more than in the previous year. The final harvest statistics will be completed in January 2008, but Tike (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) will publish an advance notification on the figures in November 2007.Rye crop may reach 90 million kilograms - the import of rye will decrease

During the vegetation period, the ratio of heat to rainfall has been suitable in respect of growth of field crops almost in the entire country. At the beginning of the summer, turnip rape was taxed by a flea beetle attack, which made one or more repeat sowings necessary. The grain crop may reach 4 billion kilograms, if the growth conditions continue to be as favourable as earlier. For almost all cereals, the crops per hectare seem to be one tenth higher than average. The preliminary harvest estimate reflects the harvest situation in the middle of July.

Tike (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) compiles an annual summary of the production, domestic use and consumption of the most important food groups in Finland. Last year, Finnish people ate 73.5 kg of meat per capita, i.e. slightly under one per cent more than the year before. The consumption of vegetables and fruit remained approx. 4 per cent below the level of 2005.

In 2006, the total number of farms in Finland was 69,071, which is around 500 fewer than in 2005. The information is from the Farm Register maintained by Tike.  The final data will be published, as well as in Matilda, in printed form in late summer 2007. Average arable area almost unchangedThe average arable area on Finnish farms in 2006 was 33.31 hectares per farm, which was only a little higher than the year before (33.03 ha). Thus, it would seem that the growth of average arable area has levelled off.

In recent years, the social and economic significance of information on the operation of the food chain and food quality and safety has increased a great deal. Food crises, subsequent publicity and increased consumer awareness have highlighted the importance of understanding the functioning of the food chain. The new statistical publication compiled by Tike, the Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Pellolta pöytään [From Field to Table], fulfils the increasing need for information.

Tike (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) statis-tics showed a rise in pork production volumes to a new record of 208.3 million kilograms in 2006. There was a slight downturn in pork producer prices. For the second year running, poultry meat production exceeded that of beef. Beef production increased slightly on the previous year. Beef producer prices rose for the second consecutive year.

Milk production continued to declineMilk production continued to decline for the fourth consecutive year. Milk production fell by about 20 million litres (-0.8%) from 2005. The milk volumes delivered from farms to dairies fell in the first half year by 0.3% and in the second by about one percent. The 2006 milk production volume (2,343 mill. litres) is the lowest since the compilation of comparable statistical records began in the1950s. Despite the decline in total milk production, domestic production continues to exceed consumption.