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Finnish Grain Quality in 2012
covered by this publication, it should still be noted that high levels of deoxynivalenol
(DON), especially in oats, were found in the whole country, and in some cases they
have exceeded the limit set for food use.
Even though the past growing period was particularly difficult in certain areas, the wet
summer also produced excellent harvests in other areas. Summer rains are by their
nature often very localised, which means that there can be great local fluctuations even
within the same region.
1.3 The quality of organically grown grain
Oats is the most important cereal in organic cultivation. The hectolitre weights of
organic oats were also very high. Based on hectolitre weight, 97 per cent of the oat
samples qualified for the feed industry, when a hectolitre weight of 52 kg is considered
as the minimum requirement. The average yield level for organic oats was 2,542
kg/hectare.
Based on hectolitre weight, 62 per cent of the organic samples qualified as milling
quality oats. For the purpose of these statistics, no other quality factors affecting the
pricing than hectolitre weight were used. Potential mould toxins were not considered.
The cultivation of organic spring wheat succeeded somewhat better than the cultivation
of conventional spring wheat, when taking into consideration the share of samples
qualifying for bread wheat of the samples in the quality monitoring of the grain harvest.
Based on hectolitre weight, falling number and protein content, 51 per cent of the
samples of organic wheat were of bread quality, whereas the corresponding share of
conventional spring wheat was 46 per cent. The average yield level was only 2,579
kg/hectare for organic wheat.
Of the organic barley, 41 per cent had a hectolitre weight of a minimum of 64 kg. The
average yield per hectare for organic barley was 2,067 kg/hectare. As to total besatz
and the number of shrivelled grains, organic barley was behind that of conventional
barley.
The quality of organic rye was good, but not as good as that of the conventionally
grown rye. Of the samples, 65 per cent fulfilled the quality requirements for rye at the
basic price (falling number 120, hectolitre weight 71 kg). The average yield level for
organic rye was 1,763 kg/hectare.
In 2012, more extensive data was collected than previously about the quality of
organically grown grain by using new additional sampling. Quality information on the
organic grain harvest has also been collected in previous years, but only as a part of
the quality monitoring of the traditional grain harvest.
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