The Czech Republic has entered its harvest season, with farmers already harvesting 2.5 percent of the cereal crops, amounting to approximately 31,000 hectares of sown areas. The Ministry of Agriculture reported that over 195,000 tonnes of cereal crops have been harvested, predominantly winter barley. However, these figures are lower than last year, when 3.6 percent of the cereal crops had already been harvested at this time.

The harvest commenced in the last week of June and is still in its early stages. According to the State Agricultural Intervention Fund’s initial survey, the South Moravian region, where the harvest traditionally begins, has seen the harvesting of 30,870 hectares of winter barley, accounting for about a quarter of the sown areas.

Thus far, only 120 hectares of wheat have been harvested, yielding 552 tonnes, which is less than 0.1 percent of the sown areas. Additionally, 975 tonnes of rapeseed have been harvested from 370 hectares, representing approximately 0.1 percent of the area.

The harvest of spring barley has also commenced, with 1,219 tonnes harvested from less than 10 percent of the sown areas. However, the harvest for crops such as rye, oats, and triticale (a hybrid of rye and wheat) has not yet begun. The current data indicates an average yield of 6.27 tonnes of cereals per hectare.

This year, farmers are projected to harvest cereals from 1.245 million hectares, which is around 53,000 hectares less than the previous year. However, the area sown with rapeseed has increased by approximately 36,000 hectares to reach 379,943 hectares.

According to the initial estimate from the Czech Statistical Office, the harvest of basic cereals is expected to decrease by 8.1 percent compared to last year’s above-average yield, resulting in a total of 6.955 million tonnes. This decrease is anticipated in crops such as wheat, barley, oats, and rye. In contrast, farmers are expected to harvest 1.223 million tonnes of rapeseed, reflecting a 4.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Article by Prague Forum