U.K. Wheat Crop Below Five-Year Average, Farmers Union Says

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. wheat harvest will fall below the five-year average after dry weather through June curbed production, the National Farmers Union said.

Wheat production will total 14.7 million metric tons, down 1.5 percent from the five-year average, the NFU said. Yields will average about 7.4 tons a hectare (2.5 acres), down 5 percent from the five-year average, according to the report. Central England had the driest April since at least 1659, according to the Met Office.

Rapeseed production will rise to a record 2.62 million tons, up 29 percent from the five-year average, as plantings gained 13 percent, the NFU said.

--Editors: Claudia Carpenter,

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net.