Increase in Scotland's Cereal Harvest

Figures out this week reveal the highest Scottish cereal harvest in more than 20 years, despite a delayed harvest due to the wet weather.

Commenting on the first Estimate of the Cereal and Oilseed Rape Harvest 2011, Mr Lochhead said:

"I welcome the news that the first estimates of cereal and oilseed rape are up on 2010 figures, despite the wet summer. It appears that the last gasp of summer has saved the harvest and in particular, it is heartening to see average cereal yields increase by 7.5 per cent to 6.9 tonnes per hectare - the highest level in 20 years.

"I appreciate it is not all good news for farmers, with the high moisture content leading to increased production costs and the delayed harvest leading to operational challenges. However it is not the disaster we feared and compared to the rest of the UK, Scotland has seen greater increases in cereal, wheat and oilseed rape production which are to be welcomed."

Key trends between 2010 and 2011 show:

For total cereals:

• production has increased by 346,000 tonnes (12.7 per cent) to 3.1 million tonnes
• this is the highest production in the last 20 years, 123,000 tonnes (4.2 per cent) greater than the next highest year in 2008
• areas increased by 21,000 hectares (4.9 per cent) to 446,000 hectares
• average yields increased by 7.5 per cent to 6.9 tonnes per hectare, the highest level in the last 20 years.

For individual crops:

• Wheat production increased by 66,000 tonnes (7.2 per cent) to 984,000 tonnes
• Barley production increased by 284,000 tonnes (17.0 per cent) to 1,949,000 tonnes
• Oats production decreased by 3,000 tonnes (2.3 per cent) to 132,000 tonnes
• Oilseed Rape production increased by 41,000 tonnes (34.0 per cent) to 163,000 tonnes

By comparison with the UK:

• For total cereals; areas, yields and production increased, though to a lesser degree; a two per cent increase in both area and yield and a four per cent increase in production across the whole of the UK
• Individual crops for the whole of the UK followed similar trends as in Scotland, though changes in production over the last year have been more favourable in Scotland: Wheat production increased by 3.3 per cent, Barley by 7.4 per cent, Oats declined by 9 per cent and production of oilseed rape increased by 24.6 per cent percent in the UK

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