UK farms toast record wheat crop

The harvest is up compared to the poor yields of 2007

British farmers recorded a 28% increase in the amount of cereals harvested in 2008, official figures indicate.

Wheat saw a massive increase, up 32% on 2007's harvest to 17.5m tonnes.

The figures come despite warnings from the National Farmers' Union in August that the wet summer was likely to hit cereal crops.

The government has praised "the strength of the farming sector", which made for "an unexpected success".

But the milling industry does not expect the increase to necessarily lead to a fall in the cost of bread.

The BBC's rural affairs correspondent, Jeremy Cooke, says part of the reason for the increased crop is that farmers took advantage of record prices on international exchanges and planted more wheat.

2008 shows what has been achieved by farmers genuinely responding to markets combined with exceptional growing conditions for cereal crops here and abroad Ian Backhouse, NFU

While the early part of the season brought both good quality and quantity, wet weather in August meant farmers could not get their crop in, which affected the quality of the harvest.

This had led to some farmers describing 2008 as "worst harvest ever", our correspondent said.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the bumper crop was due to "excellent planting conditions in autumn 2007".

Farming minister Jane Kennedy said: "These harvest figures just show the strength of the farming sector we have here in the UK.

"Despite the big obstacles affecting the global industry, British farmers have made this year's harvest an unexpected success."

'Good yields'

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) says farmers have responded to demand for food by increasing the amount of wheat planted by 13%.

Improvements in yield, the NFU added, was a marked contrast to the difficult growing conditions of 2007.

Ian Backhouse of the NFU said: "2008 shows what has been achieved by farmers genuinely responding to markets combined with exceptional growing conditions for cereal crops here and abroad."

Defra added that a further reason for the good yields was that the EU had suspended its rule that farmers must leave 10% of their land idle, known as set-aside.

Whilst a big crop means the cost of feed grains has fallen quite a lot, the price of bread and biscuit quality wheat hasn't come down Alex Waugh, Nabim

The move came at a time of shrinking wheat stocks and rising prices across the world.

The NFU has added a small note of caution, as yields for the 2007 harvest were lower than expected due to an extended drought and the extensive flooding seen across parts of England, which damaged crops.

That note of caution has been reflected by the National Association of British and Irish Millers (Nabim).

Its director general Alex Waugh told BBC News that the wet summer of 2008 had affected the quality of the wheat being harvested.

"Whilst a big crop means the cost of feed grains has fallen quite a lot," he said, "the price of bread and biscuit quality wheat hasn't come down.

"We now have to pay a record premium of £60 a tonne over feed prices."

He added that the cost of a loaf of bread was reliant on other factors, including fuel and production cost increases.