Poor cereal harvest confirmed

Scotland’s 2016 cereal harvest is estimated to have fallen 11 per cent on 2015. Scottish farms produced 2.8 million tonnes of cereals this year, including 1.6 million tonnes of barley and 900,000 tonnes of wheat. The total is five per cent lower than the ten-year average.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Statistician today released the final estimates of the 2016 Scottish cereal and oilseed rape harvest. The figures confirm the general messages seen in the provisional results published in August.

The figures show that this year’s fall in production is due to an eight per cent fall in overall cereal yields. The total area of land sown has also decreased by three per cent, with 428,000 hectares of cereal grown in 2016. Overall yields averaged around 6.4 tonnes per hectare; ranging from 5.4 tonnes per hectare for spring barley to 8.4 for wheat.

Spring barley, Scotland’s most important cereal crop, is expected to fall 15 per cent to 1.30 million tonnes, the lowest since 1997. Winter barley likewise saw a 19 per cent fall to 329,000 tonnes, with wheat holding up slightly better, with a nine per cent drop to 926,000 tonnes. Only oats saw positive results, with the crop topping 200,000 tonnes for the first time since the 1970s.

Oilseed rape had a particularly poor year, with yields averaging around 3.3 tonnes per hectare, resulting in the lowest production since records began in 1992, at 102,000 tonnes.

The results come from a survey of over 600 cereal farms across Scotland. There had been no catastrophic weather condition responsible for this, just a series of less than ideal factors affecting the seed bed, growing conditions and the final harvest.

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Background

 The figures are produced by the Scottish Government. “National Statistics” relates to the designation of the statistics; it does not mean they are produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The full statistical publication is available at

www.gov.scot/stats/bulletins/01257

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Further information on Agriculture and Fisheries statistics within Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.Scotland.gov.uk/agricstats

“National Statistics” are produced by professionally independent statistical staff – more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About