Crop production
How much winter wheat and spring barley is harvested each year in Denmark, and which is the most popular vegetable: the carrot or the onion? Here you will find statistics on the annual grain harvest and use as well as the production of fruit and vegetables.
Selected statistics on Crop production
Crop yield of grain
Data for the statistics are collected from several sources, each covering different types of crops. In general, area information comes from the Danish Agency for Green Land Conversion and Aquatic Environment.
Harvest of cereals, rapeseed and legumes
Questionnaire-based survey with a gross sample of approximately 2,800 farms (approximately 8 percent of all farms) and a net sample of approximately 2,700 farms. The selection is random and stratified.
Forecast for winter cereals
Prepared by DAKOFO and the Association of Danish Variety Owners. DAKOFO is a trade association for the grain and feed trade in Denmark. The Association of Danish Variety Owners represents plant breeders. The forecasts up to 2015 have been prepared by Statistics Denmark, also based on data from the Danish Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries and estimates from SEGES regarding winter rapeseed. Seed information also came from the Danish Agriculture and Fisheries Agency and SEGES. Revised area information came from 'Harvest of grain, rapeseed and peas and straw'.
Harvest of roughage
The statement includes the following crops: seed potatoes, potatoes for flour production, table potatoes, sugar beet, fodder beet, lucerne, maize for feed, grain for ensilage, grass in rotation, grass outside rotation and arrears after grain and whole grain.
Yield per ha is based on various sources:
- Potatoes: yield estimate from SEGES
- Sugar beet: information from Nordic Sugar
- Arrears after grain and whole grain: the area is assumed to constitute 2.6 per cent. of the area with grain to maturity and 90 per cent. of the area with whole grain (expert estimate from 2017, together with the alfalfa calculation 1.38 × whole grain)
- Other crops: information from the accounting statistics for agriculture, which contains both areas and production
Since the accounting statistics are available with a one-year delay, the yields per ha are projected based on related crops, where the correlation is high:
- Fodder beet is projected with the development for sugar beet
- Maize for feed is projected with the development for maize to maturity
- Whole grain and arrears after grain, alfalfa and whole grain are projected with the development for spring barley
- Grass is projected with the development for grain in total.
Example: Maize to maturity has a yield of 60 hkg per ha in 2018 and 75 in 2019. From the accounting statistics for agriculture, we know that corn for feed in 2018 has a yield of 320 hkg per ha. For 2019, the yield is therefore calculated as 320*(75/60)=400.
Seeds for sowing
Information comes from the Danish Agency for Green Land Redevelopment and Aquatic Environment.
Use of grain
Data input are collected from a wide range of sources. The main sources of The Utilization of cereals are:
Sample surveys: the annual harvest survey, Harvest of Cereals etc., the annual farm structural survey, Agricultural and Horticultural Survey, the external trade, International trade in Goods, the annual surveys of stocks on farms that is part of the table KORN2: Stock and turnover of cereals
Census: the annual survey of flour producers that is included in The Utilization of cereals under the type Grinding for flour, groats etc. This survey is not published as an independent statistic, the annual stock at cereal trading companies that is part of the table KORN2: Stock and turnover of cereals
Production of vegetables
The figures are collected in a questionnaire-based survey among farms that have applied for area support (basic payment) or that have a greenhouse. Organic production is calculated based on figures from the Danish Agency for Green Transition and Aquatic Environment. The statistics are a total count among farms that meet these minimum limits for each crop group: 5 ha. with vegetables in the open field, 2 ha. with pome fruit, 2 ha. with berries and stone fruit and a greenhouse of at least 100 m2.
Production of fruit
The figures are collected in a questionnaire-based survey among farms that have applied for area support (basic payment) or that have a greenhouse. Organic production is calculated based on figures from the Danish Agency for Green Transition and Aquatic Environment. The statistics are a total count among farms that meet these minimum limits for each crop group: 5 ha. with vegetables in the open field, 2 ha. with pome fruit, 2 ha. with berries and stone fruit and a greenhouse of at least 100 m2.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
The purpose of the survey is to describe the structure of agriculture, e.g. number of farms by size and geography.
The statistics have comparable time series going back to 1982. The agricultural statistics, however, are much older than that with figures for number of farms, livestock, crops etc. going back to around 1900.
The statistics illustrate the Danish harvest of grain, rapeseed, legumes and roughage. The statistics are used for research, EU reporting, calculation of GDP and energy and feed accounts. The statistics have been compiled since 1875, but in their current form are comparable from 1971 onwards. The statistics complement other statistics on vegetable production, including Production of fruit and vegetables.
The statistics describe the production of fruit and vegetables in Denmark. The statistics are part of the coverage of the food industry and its production and are a fulfillment of EU regulation, (EU) 2022/2379 (SAIO). The statistics have been prepared in their current form since 2025. The statistics complement other statistics on vegetable production, including the harvest of cereals, rapeseed and legumes as well as roughage.
The purpose of the statistics is to compile a grain balance, primarily with the aim of calculating the quantities of grain that go to feed consumption, both for each individual crop and for the total amount of grain. In the grain balance, the amount of grain from harvest and import is calculated, and it is distributed among different uses. The statistics are used to calculate the Economic Accounts for Agriculture. Supply balance sheets for cereals for the crop year have been compiled since 1900/01. Balance sheets for the calendar year have been compiled since 1961. Data in its present form is comparable from 1995 onwards.