Castilla y León cereal area falls by 224,000 hectares in one year
Cereal plantings in Castilla y León, Spain’s largest grain-producing region, fell 11.1% between 2025 and 2026. ACCOE estimates that production has declined by 40%-50% across the region, with highly uneven wheat and barley yields.
Plantings fall 11.1% in one campaign
Castilla y León, Spain’s largest cereal-producing region, has lost 224,000 hectares of grain plantings in one year, according to Agrodigital. Data from Spain’s 2026 Common Agricultural Policy area declarations show that land allocated to the region’s principal cereals fell by 11.1% between the 2025 and 2026 campaigns. The contraction directly reduces the production base of a region that plays a central role in supplying Spanish feed mills, flour mills and food processors.
The latest fall extends a longer decline highlighted by the Spanish Association of Cereal and Oilseed Trade, ACCOE. The area planted with the main cereals has decreased by 14.5% since 2020, from 2.09 million hectares to 1.79 million hectares in 2026. The figures indicate that most of the six-year reduction occurred during the latest campaign, intensifying pressure on farmers, grain merchants, storage companies and industrial buyers.
Production drops across the region
Lower plantings have coincided with a difficult growing season and sharply uneven agronomic results. Based on field monitoring by its members, ACCOE estimates that cereal production is down across every part of Castilla y León compared with the previous campaign. Depending on the area, the decline ranges from 40% to 50%. Yields vary substantially among provinces, districts and even individual fields.
In Soria, where around 85% of the harvest had been completed, average yields were close to 3 tonnes per hectare for wheat and 2.7 tonnes per hectare for barley. Test weights varied considerably depending on sowing dates and fertilizer application. In Burgos, harvesting remained unfinished only in the northernmost areas. Barley yields ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 kilograms per hectare, while wheat produced between 3,000 and 5,000 kilograms per hectare, with similarly uneven quality.
Palencia’s harvest was almost complete apart from a small number of high-altitude fields. Average yields were around 3,000 kilograms per hectare, well below the exceptionally strong 2025 campaign. Wheat grain size and test weights were below normal, while barley was somewhat more consistent. In Valladolid, where harvesting was also nearly finished, both wheat and barley yielded between 2.5 and 6 tonnes per hectare, broadly matching estimates issued in June.
Harvesting was well advanced in Segovia, Salamanca, Zamora and Ávila, where results confirmed lower-than-expected yields and some land normally harvested was left uncut. In León, activity had shifted to the northern half of the province. Irrigation supported otherwise mixed yields, while wheat showed good protein levels and barley recorded good test weights.
Supply chain faces a volatile market
The regional shortfall comes amid what Agrodigital describes as declining global production and extremely volatile prices linked to geopolitical uncertainty. ACCOE Secretary-General José Manuel Álvarez said merchants and storage operators remain essential because they store, condition, finance and transport grain while maintaining year-round supplies to processors. ACCOE called for conditions that preserve profitability from farms through to industry. With production down by as much as half in some areas, storage capacity, financing and orderly marketing will be important for managing reduced and variable supplies without disrupting rural employment or deliveries to Spanish processors.
