England cereals and oilseeds harvests ranked

A ranking of harvests since 1984 by overall volume for all wheat, spring and winter barley, oats and oilseed rape. Data from before 1999 is derived from multiplying yield with area, as Defra do not publish production totals prior to 1999 for England. 

The spring and summer in 2025 were the warmest on record, and the spring was the driest in over 100 years in England. This has hit yields, reducing overall harvest volumes and making 2025 the second worst on record in England. Extreme rainfall in the autumn and winters of 2019/20 and 2023/24 had a major impact on arable crop production for harvests in 2020 and 2024, making these the worst and third worst harvests on record for England. This means that three of the five worst harvests on record in England have occurred this decade following periods of extreme weather. 

Climate change is projected to bring warmer, wetter winters to England, as well as hotter, drier summers. 

Defra data for England in 2025 is worse than previous projections estimated, due to lower per hectare yields than previously reported by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in their final harvest update.