Sweden expects grain production to increase

Cereal production

In its harvest estimates, Jordbrugsverket put grain production for 2024 at around 5.4 million tonnes in total. This would be an increase of 25% compared to the previous year's level. Production was therefore in line with the average for the past five years.

50% of the cereal area is occupied by wheat

The forecast is based on statistical correlations between weather conditions and previous years' harvests, which is why the office believes it is relatively uncertain. As a rule, well over half of Sweden's grain harvest comes from winter wheat. However, this year, it is expected to make up only 51 percent of the total grain harvest.

The average yield per hectare is expected to be 6.5 tonnes, up 13% from the previous year. However, the area under cultivation has been reduced by 9%. This gives a forecast volume of 2.7 million tonnes of winter wheat, which would mean an increase of 3% compared to 2023.

More oats

Oats are expected to make up 13 percent of Sweden's grain harvest, with a yield of 0.8 million tons. This means that the spring grain harvest has increased by 72 percent compared to the previous year and is 11 percent higher than the average of the past five years. The spring barley harvest is expected to reach 1.2 million tons; this would mean an increase of 64 percent compared to 2023 and 6 percent compared to the multi-year average.

Less rapeseed

In the case of winter rape, the harvest is expected to be 0.24 million tonnes. This would mean a 13% decrease compared to the previous year, which is mainly due to the smaller area. On the other hand, it is estimated that the area of spring rape has increased by 50%, but this still gives a production of only 0.04 million tonnes.