Ministry forecasts good grain harvest
Lehtikuva / Martti KainulainenProspects for the year's grain harvest are good. According to the preliminary advance forecast by the Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the harvest will reach 4.3 billion kilos this year, if growing conditions up to threshing time continue to be similar to those at the beginning of the summer.
Half of the total harvest, i.e. about 2.1 billion kilos, will be oats and 0.9 billion wheat. Last autumn the grain harvest amounted to 4.2 billion kilos.
The weather during the growing season has affected crops in different ways throughout Finland. In Southern Ostrobothnia there has been a shortage of water compared with Eastern Finland where there has been exceptional rainfall. Chilly conditions have slowed field crop growth in Lapland. On average, however, growing conditions have been favourable and, for the moment at least, the harvest is expected to produce a high yield.
The Ministry points out that, as the advance forecast depicts the situation in mid-July, conditions during the rest of the growing season and at harvest time will also affect the final autumn yield. The next forecast showing the situation on 25 August will be published at the beginning of September.
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