Harvest has started and new figures published this week show that British combines will be cutting 6% more spring barley than last year.

However, spring barley increase is more than offset by a sharp decline in the oilseed rape area for a second year running (down 9%), plus slightly lower winter barley and wheat areas.

See also: Winter barley harvest under way with quality looking low

“Spring barley looks to have benefited from a common trend across the country towards spring cropping,” said Isobel Robinson, AHDB market analyst.

“This is likely to have been influenced by economic factors and efforts to control blackgrass and broader agronomic issues.”

She adds that the prospect of historically poor market returns at planting was likely a key factor behind the lower oilseed rape area.”

Key findings of the survey are:

• Wheat area down 2% from 2015, at 1.8m hectares
• Winter barley area down 2%, at 426,000ha
• Spring barley area up 6% to 682,000ha
• Oat area up 4% to 135,000ha
• English and Scottish oilseed rape area down by 9% to 591,000ha.

Looking at wheat, the survey shows a small decline in the wheat area planted for harvest 2016.

“As a result, unless we see particularly high yielding crops this season it is likely that production levels will be down on the year,” she said.

However, there are regional differences. In England, the wheat area has declined by 2% to 1.66m hectares – the lowest since 2013.

She believes a possible reason for the decrease could be growers exploring different rotational options and reconsidering the value of planting marginal land at current prices.

In Scotland, there has been a differing trend, with the highest wheat area since 2011, up 4% from 2015, drawing area from barley and oilseed rape.

Looking at wheat varieties, nabim Group 1 and Group 2 milling varieties have seen a resurgence this year, accounting for 31% of the total area – up from 23% in 2015.

This is the highest proportion since 2010 and probably reflects the introduction of newer, higher yielding varieties, including Skyfall and Lili.