The area of cereals grown in Ireland declined by 6.8% in 2026, according to new provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The total area of cereals grown in 2026 declined by 18,800ha, from 274,900ha to 256,100ha, with over half of this figure due to a 29% reduction in the sowing of oats this year.
There was a drop of 8,400ha in the total area under winter wheat, barley and oats, while these three cereals fell by a combined 11,500ha in spring.
Winter wheat saw an 8% reduction in the planted area to sit at 54,900ha, while winter barley saw an increase in area of 2,400ha to reach 59,600ha. Spring barley dropped by 6,700ha to 108,600ha.
Rye saw a big increase in the area sowed, reaching 4,900ha, up 1,100ha from last year’s figure.
These CSO provisional figures are broadly in line with preliminary Department of Agriculture figures collected from Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) applications released in June.
Break crops
An increase in the area of break crops offset some of the reduction in the area of cereals, with oilseed rape rising by 7,300ha to 19,100ha and the area under beans and peas increasing by 3,100ha to sit at 17,800ha.
There were 24,200ha of maize silage this year, a rise of 2,300ha.
However, potatoes saw a decrease of 600ha to sit at 8,400ha, a 6.3% reduction.
