The winter barley harvest has begun; the yield is not bad
With the winter barley harvest now underway, the chairman of the Lithuanian Grain Growers’ Association is hoping for a decent harvest this year – the snowy winter protected the crops from the cold, whilst subsequent rainfall mitigated the effects of the dry spring.
According to Audrius Vanagas, an average harvest is expected, and farmers are rushing to harvest the barley – which is mainly intended for animal feed – before further downpours, which could snap the barley ears.
“The first days of harvesting winter barley are already underway. Compared to last year… well, it’s an average year’s harvest – nothing exceptional, just the usual winter barley harvest for us,“ he told BNS.
“This year, we’re seeing that harvesting has practically begun in all districts. It’s usually the southern districts that start harvesting first,” added A. Vanagas.
According to him, snowdrifts protected the crops during the winter, then water from the melted snow seeped into the ground, and the effects of the spring drought were mitigated by subsequent rainfall.
“During the winter, the crops were fairly well protected beneath a thick layer of snow when there were severe frosts. Then the water drained away very neatly. Of course, in those districts where there was a great deal of snow – for example, in Plungė – there was more damage after the winter. But this was mainly due to trampling under the snow,“ – said a representative of the grain growers.
“Spring was drier in most districts, and this drought was particularly noticeable for winter barley, as its growing season begins early, earlier than any other crop. That’s how much of an impact it had. But subsequent rainfall helped – it improved the situation in many districts. There are, of course, some districts where things are a bit worse. It’s been a fairly average year. Looking at the overall picture in Lithuania, the situation isn’t that dire,” said A. Vanagas.
According to him, there is a rush to harvest the winter barley, as the return of the downpours could cause damage.
“When winter barley reaches maturity and a rainy period sets in, the ears can snap and fall off. Farmers know that you cannot wait too long with winter barley“,” said the head of the Lithuanian Grain Growers’ Association.
According to A. Vanagas, the area under winter barley has decreased: “Less was sown last year because, due to the unfavourable weather at the time, it was not possible to get the sowing done in time. And because the ground was wet, some of it has not yet been harvested.”
Winter barley is one of the crops harvested earliest.
According to data from the Agricultural Data Centre, winter barley is grown by 104 companies, which have declared 8,000 hectares, and 3,400 farmers – they grow this crop on almost 33,560 hectares.
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