Scottish cereal growers will already know their own figures but yesterday NFU Scotland estimated that national grain yields were around one fifth less than last year.
Scottish cereal growers will already know their own figures but yesterday NFU Scotland estimated that national grain yields were around one fifth less than last year.
Worst hit with the weather was oilseed rape, an estimated 26 per cent down on 2011 with an average yield of 3.1 tonnes per hectare. Wheat was also well back at 7 tonnes per hectare, 18 per cent less than 12 months ago. A similar percentage drop was experienced in spring barley with an average yield this year of 5.1 tonnes per hectare although winter barley did not seem to suffer as badly as the rest, dropping 7 per cent to 6.7tonnes per hectare.
Bad as these figures are, they compare well with England where wheat yield was put at 6.7 tonnes per hectare, the lowest since 1980. The barley yield in England was also below that in Scotland, coming in at 5 tonnes per hectare
Commenting on the Scottish figures, union combinable crops manager Peter Loggie stressed that, with the late season, changes to the figures might still have to be made.
“Scotland is traditionally a net importer of wheat so the combined impact of a smaller planted area and lower yield means that Scottish wheat should find ready buyers and imports into Scotland will be higher than normal,” he said.
“The tighter availability of barley means that we will have less to export than normal. Again, it means that all Scottish barley should find a home domestically.
“The same applies to oats, where all Scottish production is likely to be needed, with some being imported to make up the shortfall.”
Looking further afield, his counterpart in England, Guy Gagen, said: “These UK harvest results will do little to alleviate the global dynamics of commodity prices, with the prospect of relatively high commodity levels through to 2013.
“Cereals prices impact directly on other sectors, especially pig and poultry farmers who are already struggling with higher feed costs.”