The Tike crop statistics show that the field harvest of 2007 was good. The grain harvest rose to 4.1 billion kilos from the 3.8 billion kilos of the previous year. There was an even steeper rise in the silage crop: it was all of 63% higher than in the drought year 2006. Based on information submitted by farmers, yields of sugar beet per hectare also reached record levels. Nevertheless, the total harvest of sugar beet was one third lower than last year, due to the drop in cultivated area.

Grain harvest for 2007 4.1 billion kilos
The grain harvest of 2007 is the second largest in Finnish history, after the record harvest (4.3 billion kilos) of 1990. The harvest was 9% higher than the year before, mainly due to good yields per hectare. Yields of all cereals increased from the year 2006.


Bread grain harvest rose to 884 million kilograms, feed grain 3.3 billion kilos
The rye harvest was 87 million kilos, a remarkable 70% higher than the harvest of 2006. Yet, rye is still the only cereal for which we are not self-sufficient, as annual rye consumption in Finland is about 100 million kilos. The harvest of our other bread grain, wheat, was 797 million kilograms. The wheat harvest was 16% higher than in 2006. Overall, the bread grain harvest was one fifth higher than the previous year.


The quantity of oats threshed was 1.2 billion kilos, about 193 million kilos (19%) more than in 2006. The barley harvest also increased a little, by 12 million kilos, and its total yield was 2.0 billion kilos, which is almost half of Finland¿s total cereal harvest.


Yield of sugar beet per hectare high, turnip rape harvest small
Sugar beet cultivation continued to decrease sharply from last year. The area under sugar beet fell by a third, to 16,000 hectares. However, the highest yields per hectare (42,200 kg/ha) in the history of the crop were harvested from this area, producing a total harvest of approx. 673 million kilos. The potato harvest was 702 million kilos, which is 22% higher than in 2006.


The turnip rape harvest, 95 million kilos, was almost a third lower than in 2006. The causes of the reduced harvest were mainly the smaller sown area than in 2006 and flea beetle damage in early spring. The harvest of our second most important oil plant, oilseed rape, was 18 million kilos.


Grass feed harvest returned to normal
The forage harvest was good. For example, the silage harvest was 63% higher than the 2006 harvest, which was affected by the drought. About 83% of the silage harvest was pre-dried, the remainder was harvested as fresh silage. The dry hay harvest was 383 million kilos.


The crop statistics are based on information submitted by farmers. The information was gathered by telephone from approx. 5,700 growers. The harvest areas for field crops were calculated by deducting the area of crop failure from the cultivated area given by growers in their subsidy applications.


Additional information
Anneli Partala, Researcher, Tel. +358 20 77 21376
Mirva Kokkinen, Researcher, Tel. +358 20 77 21371
The format of e-mail addresses is firstname.lastname@mmmtike.fi