Winter wheat, rye, barley, rape and also triticale (hybrid of wheat and rye) may have a lower yield than expected this season, according to results of field surveys performed by Latvian Rural Advisory and Education Centre (LLKC).
The drought affected the development of all winter crops in the country, leaving cereals with shorter heads with a smaller number of grains in them than usual.
LLKC Agriculture Office head Oskars Balodis explains: “In lighter soils, winter wheat, rye and triticale are prematurely ripe or withered, which means that grains are small and yields in such fields will be low. In rye, the development of grain in the ear was also affected by the damage to the triplet. Good grain coarseness is in fields that endured drought better and where the required amount of precipitation was expected in time. The moisture available to the rapeseed provided good seed coarseness, but overall it is smaller in size with a lower biomass, which results in lower yield.”
LLKC Kuldiga Department’s agriculture consultant Daiga Mellere says that because of the unstable weather in Kurzeme
the situation sharply differs even within the borders of a single parish:
“There are farms whose crops were cut in half by the drought when compared with the previous year. Because of the cold weather experienced in spring caused winter wheat has not developed grains. Heads are empty. And the situation with ongoing rain may make the situation even worse – we have to consider the quality of grains. All grains will be affected.”
Consultants do not exclude the possibility of having to collect crops under conditions of increased moisture. This would mean the need to compensate damages caused by the rain. It is important to keep in mind that the first winter wheat in Kurzeme shows slightly more optimistic harvests than what is visually apparent. Therefore, it is hoped that later varieties in better-groomed fields will yield better harvests this season.
Meanwhile in Vidzeme the harvest did begin briefly, but was then cut short by the rain. “A couple of farms have managed to harvest winter barley, but there are very few of them because of all the moisture. Livestock owners also face difficulties. Herd owners who sowed fodder emphasize that the situation is catastrophic.
Only 30% of the total necessary fodder volume has been prepared so far.
Part of the volume of oats has also gone for fodder. Their quality will depend on the upcoming weather conditions,” says LLKC Limbazi Office consultant Brigita Skujiņa.
At the end of July, according to harvest outlooks from LLKC, on average in Latvia farmers expect the following harvest volumes per 1 ha: winter wheat – 4.26 tons, rye – 3.52 tons, triticale – 3.46 tons, winter rapeseed – 2.34 tons, winter barley – 3.78 tons.
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