Winter wheat

The area of winter wheat increased in 2025 due to the favourable sowing conditions at the end of 2024, DAFM recorded 59,400 ha which was an increase of 18,800 ha on 2024 and above the 5 year average of 48,760 ha. Unlike the 2024 crop which was damaged due to flooding, this years crops emerged practically unscathed from the winter, which gave crops a good yield potential. Again, the spring was relatively dry which kept septoria levels very low, however some crops were affected by yellow rust and later by drought which restricted yields in certain areas, other fields that were less affected had very good yields as high as 15 t/ha in some cases.

Crop inputs - T0's were applied in almost all crops due to the pressure in April from yellow rust, varieties with seemingly good resistance e.g. Champion, Fitzroy etc. showed signs of the disease with susceptible varieties in some case requiring robust fungicide programmes to control the problem. This will have increased the spend on disease control on most farms.

Average yield was 10.55 t/ha which is highest yield since 2022 and the third highest recorded overall and 0.77 t/ha above the 5 year average of 9.78 t/ha. Average grain moisture at harvest was 17.2% and hectolitre weight increased from last year at 75.1 kg/hl. Crops by enlarge were harvested in early August some 10 days earlier than normal.

Spring wheat 

The area of spring wheat was 4,700 ha in 2025, which was a decrease of 2,400 ha on 2024 and and also a decrease on the 5 year average of 7,220 ha. The majority of spring wheat was grown in Cork and Wexford.  

Average yield for the crop was 7.4 t/ha which is 0.4 t/ha below the 5 year average. 

The average moisture was 19.0%, which reflected the very good harvesting conditions. Average hectolitre weight was 75.0 kg/hl, 1.7 points higher than 2024. 

Winter barley

The area of winter barley increased to 57,200 ha in 2025. Similar to winter wheat, the excellent soil conditions in October 2024 allowed a significant increase in the area planted of approximately 14,000 ha on autumn 2023, but was slightly below the 5 year average of 57,800 ha. 

Crops emerged well from the winter and in general good soil conditions in the spring helped growers to get critical inputs onto crops in time. Disease levels were low. There were some of BYDV but for most it wasn't a major problem, the increased use of BYDV tolerant varieties helped in this regard. 

Early sown, early maturing varieties such as Joyau, Integral, Orcade etc. were harvested in the first week of July as were crops on drought prone land. Despite this crops yielded 9.17 t/ha on average, approximately 1.04 t/ha higher than the average in 2024 which was 8.13 t/ha. This is also higher than the 5 year average of 8.66t/ha. 

Average moisture was 15.9%, with some crops cut as low as 12-13% and average hectolitre weight was 65.0 kg/hl. 

Spring barley

As a result of the increased autumn drilling the area of spring barley fell to 115,300 ha in 2024. This is an decrease of almost 23,000 ha from 2024 and is also significantly lower than the 5 year average of 129,240 ha. 

Unlike 2024, in areas of the east and south and on lighter land, a lot of barley (up to 80%) was drilled in late February to early March with the heavier land planted in early April. Conditions were excellent for most of the drilling season and crops emerged well except for some isolated crops in Wexford that experienced significant rainfall after drilling and had to be resown. Malting contracts were cut for many growers as market realities started to kick in. 

Near drought conditions in May resulted in a lot of trace element deficiencies showing up in crops and although rain in late May solved the issue later droughts in July limited yields on lighter land. Disease levels however were low in general. 

Average yields were somewhat disappointing at 7.28 t/ha which was similar to  2024 of 7.3 t/ha, given the good early season, and was also lower than the 5 year average of 7.36 t/ha. Grain quality was good with an average hectolitre weight of 65.0 kg/kl. 

Most malting barley reached the required specification and the level of rejections was low, although some growers struggled to meet the minimum standard of 63 kg/kl. 

Winter oats

The area of winter oats was 17,800 ha an increase of over 10,300 ha from 2024, again due to the excellent soil conditions in October/November. Crops grew well during the season although some early drilled crops suffered frost damage in January, in general disease levels were very low.

Average yield for the crop was 9.08 t/ha which was higher than 2024 at 8.7 t/ha and is also higher than the 5 year average also 8.7 t/ha. 

Average moisture was 16.4 % and grain quality was good with average hectolitre weight at specific weight 56.1 kg/kl. 

An oversupply in the market from  2024 has led to a significant decrease in demand and consequently in the price paid for the crop. There are reports that contracts for 2026 crop have also been cut as a result.

Spring oats

The area of spring oats decreased to 15,800 ha however overall the combined area of oats planted was was 34,600 ha which was an increase of 4,800 ha approximately. Cork, Wexford and Tipperary accounted for almost 44% of the area planted. Most crops were planted in April and establishment was good. Similar to other crops the relatively dry spring reduced disease levels.  

Average yield for spring oats was 7.50 t/ha which is similar to the 5 year average, however crops in Cork seemed to perform above average.

Average moisture was 17.2% and quality was excellent with average hectolitre weight 55.8 kg/kl. 

Rye

The area of winter rye grown in the country continues to increase year on year with 3,700 ha planted for harvest in 2025. Tipperary, Carlow and Kildare are the top three counties in terms of the area grown in that order.

Crops emerged from the winter relatively well although there were reports of slug damage in some crops.

Crops were harvested in good condition and yielded approximately 10.3 t/ha.

Winter oilseed rape

The area of winter oilseed rape fell again in 2025 to 11,200 ha down from approximately 16,100 ha in 2024 and it is also below the 5 year average of 15,020 ha. The later than normal harvest in 2024 probably was the main reason for the decline. 

Most crops overwintered well but pigeon grazing was reported to be more of a problem than in recent years. Overall disease levels were low as many growers are selecting varieties with good disease resistance scores.  

Average yield was 5.0 t/ha which is 0.5 t above the 5 year average of 4.5 t/ha. Average moisture was 9.9 %. 

Spring beans

Spring bean area was 13,400 ha which is an decrease of 5,500 ha on 2024 and is also lower than 5 year average of 13,800 ha. Dry weather in May and July probably impacted yield in some crops, although disease levels were relatively low during the season. 

Harvesting started in early September although a break in the weather resulted in some crops being harvested in late September/early October. 

Average yield for 2025 was consistent with other years at 5.1 t/ha which is slightly above last year's yield but is slightly below the 5 year average of 5.32 t/ha. The average moisture was 18.9 %.