The GB wheat area planted for the 2016 harvest is down 2% to 1.8m hectares (ha), according to the latest AHDB Planting and Variety Survey, released by AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds.

As a result, production levels are predicted to be down this year, unless there are particularly high-yielding crops.

In England the wheat area declined 2% to 1.66m ha, the lowest since 2013, while in Scotland the wheat area was up 4% from 2015 to 114k ha.

For wheat varieties, nabim Groups 1 and 2 have seen a resurgence this year, accounting for an estimated 31% of the total GB wheat area, up from 23% in 2015. This, said AHDB, is likely to reflect the introduction of newer high-yielding varieties such as Skyfall. Meanwhile Group 3s fell to 5% of the GB area, although they could regain some share in 2017, due to new high-yielding varieties on AHDB’s Recommended List.

Finally, Group 4s retained their majority share but fell to 58% of the area compared with 63% last year.

Last week AHDB laid out EU trade implications post-Brexit.