Cereal and oilseed rape harvest: Methodology

Coherence and comparability

This sections covers how consistent these statistics are over time and how comparable they are with those of other regions and countries.

Results are considered to be agreeably consistent over time. Methodology has changed over time but results are considered to be reasonably comparable at Scotland level. More information about changes is available under Changes to Methodology. Lower geographies are less comparable due to the change in the geographical regions used for reporting in 2018.

Results are combined with data from the rest of the UK to produce UK estimates and follow comparable methodology to estimates created across Europe.

The European Commission (EC) regularly produces estimates of cereal and oilseed production as both totals of EU-27 countries and individual countries. For time periods when the UK was a Member State of the European Union, UK figures are included. Further information on EC cereal statistics is available at:

Agricultural production - crops - Statistics Explained (europa.eu)

Users interested in comparing results between countries should evaluate the relevant methodologies of sources used.

First estimates

Results for England are based on first results from surveys similar to that of the Scottish Cereal Production and Disposals Survey. Users interested in comparing results between countries should evaluate the relevant methodologies of sources used. Due to the typically later harvest period in Scotland compared to the rest of Europe, it is not practical to survey farmers for production and yield estimates at this point in the year. EC regulations governing the collection of cereal and oilseed estimates account for this by allowing early estimates to be collected by other means than a survey in countries where this applies.

Final estimates

Results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, also released in December, are based on results from surveys similar to that of the Scottish Cereal Production and Disposals Survey. Results of the UK cereal and oilseed rape harvest are published by Defra and feeds into the AHDB UK cereals balance sheet.

Users interested in comparing results between countries should evaluate the relevant methodologies of sources used.