UK wheat plantings fell to their lowest for eight years as farmers switched to barley, beans and linseed, according to official data which also showed an acceleration in the decline in the diary herd.

Wheat sowings ahead of the latest harvest dropped 13.5% to just under 1.8m hectares, the lowest since 2001, the UK's farm ministry said.

Barley plantings, meanwhile, jumped 11.9% to 1.16m hectares, the highest since 2001, with spring sowings particularly popular, soaring 22%.

The report follows a survey of English farms which cited a difficult season for autumn plantings, and falling wheat prices as behind the switch in plantings.

The data, coupled with renewed weakness in sterling, helped London wheat jump £2.00 to close at £99.00 a tonne, its best finish this month.

Dairy decline 

Other crops which grew in popularity included linseed, for which acreages nearly doubled to 30,900 hectares, and field beans and peas, for which the rise was more than 50%.

However, dairy farming speeded its decline, with the breeding herd falling by 5.1% to 1.86m animals, compared with a drop of 2.3% the year before.

The acceleration co-incided with a collapse in milk prices and dairy sector profitability which forced co-operative Dairy Farmers of Britain into receivership earlier this year.

The herd has now declined by 24% over the last decade, and by 44% since 1984, the earliest data readily available.