Cereals processing technology

2
Cereal production methods
E. J. Evans, University of Newcastle
2.1 Introduction
The dominant cereals of the United Kingdom are wheat and barley; oats, once
the most widely grown grain crop, has declined to a minor cereal during the last
sixty years. Rye, whilst a major cereal in mainland Europe, is relatively
unimportant in UK agriculture. Similarly small areas of triticale, a hybrid of
wheat and rye, and mixed corn are grown for livestock feeding. The importance
of cereals has long been recognised in both world and UK agriculture.
Advances in plant breeding and the adoption of highly efficient production
systems have combined to bring about almost a fourfold increase in grain yield
during the second half of the twentieth century. This initially secured the
profitability of arable farming in lowland Britain, but with continued high levels
of production across western Europe grain surpluses have become a major
burden on EU finances. Measures adopted within the CAP have resulted in a
sharp decline in the overall profitability of cereal production during the latter
half of the 1990s.
2.1.1 Trends in cereal production
The total area of land used for the cultivation of cereals in Britain has increased
from under three million hectares to over seven million hectares during the
twentieth century. Furthermore, during this period there was a significant change
in the relative importance of wheat, barley and oats (Fig. 2.1).
The dominant cereal during the period 1898 to 1938 was the oat crop, grown
predominantly to satisfy the dietary needs of the farm horse as the principal
source of power on the arable farm. At this time barley was largely confined to