The association "Farmers' Council" evaluates the grain growing season

Grain is now being threshed all over Latvia. In Zemgale, work is going on more intensively, while in Kurzeme and Vidzeme, prolonged rains have delayed threshing. Unfortunately, in Zemgale, concerns about the relatively lower quality of grain with such large yields have come true. The protein content in grain is lower than many would like. In turn, with regard to rapeseed, we are experiencing unprecedented records, both in terms of yield size and high oil content.

Domestic grain consumption in Latvia is decreasing every year. We harvest about 2 million tons, but we only consume about 301 million tons of Latvian grain on the domestic market. They are used for animal feed or sold to millers in Latvia. Most of the grain is exported through ports.

Preliminary crop areas compiled by the RSS in 2015:
Wheat, summer    154,811 hectares
Wheat, winter     289,307 hectares
Rapeseed, summer     20,361 hectares
Rapeseed, winter      68,137 hectares
Rye                     37,225 hectares
Barley, summer      91,382 hectares
Oats                     51,208 hectares

Dzintars Erdmanis from the "Ezergaļi" school:
Threshing has started properly in Kurzeme this week – the harvest is no longer half-green. Rapeseed and early wheat varieties such as “Fredis” and “Edvins” are ripe. The quality of wheat is average, while rapeseed is perfect, in some places as much as 9 tons are being threshed per hectare. Some farmers are still waiting for the second half of the week to thresh, but those farmers with larger areas have already started threshing at 18 – 19% moisture.
Stanislavs Gżibovskis from the "Lācīši" school:
This week in Vidzeme we are threshing in full swing. We have sown late wheat varieties, so we are only now starting to harvest. Rye threshing is also visible in other places. However, we have threshed grasses, such as timothy and meadow fescue, to half. The rape fields will soon be threshed.

Artūrs Akmens z/s "Lasi":
Winter threshing is taking place throughout Sēlija. We are warming up with early varieties, but unfortunately the grain that has fallen into the veld is making threshing difficult. We also experienced a thunderstorm, but nothing more threatening than lightning and the veld has been seen. The flow of grain to the receiving points is going well, there are no long delays. The last fields are being bypassed in the rapeseed threshing. For now, the following days promise to be sunny, so threshing will be able to continue.

Mārtiņš Trons, expert of the Farmers' Assembly:
Threshing is also underway in Latgale. Thanks to the heat, the grain will need to be dried less. I think it is possible to thresh at night, because there is neither dew nor fog. Winter rapeseed has mostly been threshed, farmers have stuck to winter wheat. Barley threshing is slowly starting in the sandiest soils of Latgale. There are long lines of tractors at the “Rēzeknes dzirnavnieks” transfer point – farmers have to wait up to 5 hours.

LATRAPS Executive Director Edgars Ruža:
In Zemgale, wheat threshing is taking place very intensively, and everything could be threshed in a few days. The fields are relatively dry, and harvesting is going well. With a large harvest, the quality is lower. In places where it rained on Saturday and Sunday, there are better conditions for sowing rapeseed, which is also being done gradually. We can expect that the optimal sowing date will be 5 days later than it should be. In Vidzeme, threshing is just starting.

VAAKS Board Chairman Indulis Jansons:
Although late, threshing has begun in Vidzeme. After the first two days, it is difficult to make predictions. One thing is clear – the harvest will be good. Rye, wheat, and rapeseed are being threshed. Unfortunately, with large harvests, low protein content in the grain is observed. Accurate forecasts will be available in a month. There are difficulties with sowing rapeseed, because the fields are still occupied with cereals.

Agronomist – consultant Aigars Šutka:
Threshing is in full swing. The yield level is currently 5-8 t/ha for wheat, there are also places where the yield is lower due to the veld. Winter rape has a very good yield of about 5 tons per hectare. The first winter wheat is not of very good quality, because part of it had fallen into the veld. The rainy and cool end of July was also not favorable, because it is at this time that warmer weather is needed for protein maturation. Currently, medium varieties are also starting to be gradually threshed, which will show the true situation. The winter rape harvest will be one of the best in recent years.