Summer crops reached maturity in September and October. At the same time, the sowing of winter cereals had started. Agro-climatic indicators show that rainfall, temperature and radiation were all above average (ΔRAIN, +12%; TEMP +0.6℃, RADPAR +3%). The seasonal RAIN profile shows that the rainfall was above average in July and October, but below average in August. The temperature was below average in July and above average in September. The estimated biomass was above-average (+10%).  NDVI values were below or close to average in the monitoring period. The national average VCIx was 0.87. It was higher than during the corresponding period in 2022. Crop production index was 0.94, slightly below average. CALF (100%) was unchanged compared to the five-year average. Cropping intensity was 141. The NDVI departure cluster profiles indicate that: (1) 48.7% of arable land experienced average crop conditions, mainly in the south of the UK. (2) 31.7% of arable land experienced slightly below-average crop conditions, mainly in the east of the UK. （3）The other areas experienced fluctuating below-average crop conditions. The marked drops in July and August in some areas can be attributed to cloud cover in the satellite images. Altogether, the conditions in the UK are assessed as below average, mainly due to the rainfall deficits that had been observed in May and August.

Regional analysis

Based on cropping systems, climatic zones, and topographic conditions, three sub-national regions are described below: Northern barley region （84）, Central sparse crop region （83） and Southern mixed wheat and barley region （85）. All three sub-regions are characterized by an unchanged fraction of arable land (CALF) compared to the 5YA.

In the northern barley region, NDVI was below average. All the agroclimatic indicators are above average (ΔRAIN, +3%; TEMP +0.3℃, RADPAR +8%), which results in an above average estimate of biomass (BIOMSS +5%). This region is cultivated with a mixture of single and double cropping systems, and the CI (+8%)  was above average, while the VCIx was at 0.91. Crop production index was 0.96. Conditions were below average.

The Central sparse crop region is one of the country's major agricultural regions for crop production.  The crop condition development graph based on NDVI was below average. Rainfall and temperature were above average (ΔRAIN +12%), temperature (TEMP +0.7℃) and radiation was close to average. Above average rainfall and temperature resulted in above-average biomass（BIOMSS +7%). This region is cultivated with a mixture of single and double cropping systems, and the CI was below average (+1%), while the VCIx was at 0.92. Crop production index was 0.96. Overall, the situation was below average.

In the Southern mixed wheat and barley zone, NDVI was below or close to average. This region experienced the largest positive rainfall excess (ΔRAIN +24%), temperature (TEMP +0.8°C) was significantly above average and radiation (RADPAR +1%) was close to average. The abundant rainfall and significantly above-average temperature resulted in the markedly above-average biomass (BIOMSS +14%). This region is cultivated with a mixture of single and double cropping systems, and the CI was below average (-2%), while the VCIx was at 0.85. Crop production index was 0.94. Overall, the conditions were below average, due to the lack of rainfall during the previous monitoring period.

Figure 3.18 United Kingdom crop condition, July‐October 2023

(a). Phenology of major crops

(b) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI   (c) Maximum VCI 

(d) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA  (e) NDVI profiles 

(f) Time series rainfall profile (left) and temperature profile (right) 

(g) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Northern Barley region (left) and Central sparse crop region  (right))

(h) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Southern mixed wheat and Barley zone)

Table 3.28 United Kingdom's agro-climatic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departure from 15YA, July ‐October 2023

Table 3.29 United Kingdom's  agronomic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departures from 5YA, July ‐October 2023