Bracken presence and management practices on Scottish grassland farms - 2025

Key points

• Information about bracken incidence was provided for 373 of 1,339 holdings contacted in a voluntary postal survey. This sample collectively represented approximately 97,300 ha of agricultural grassland across Scotland.
• Bracken was reported to be present on 111 (30%) of the holdings surveyed.
• The total bracken area reported was approximately 3,500 ha, representing 6% of the grassland for those holdings reporting bracken and 4% of the total grassland area sampled.
• The majority of bracken was present in rough grazing/unimproved grassland (79%), with the majority of respondents (58%) reporting bracken to be present in a mixture of dense stands alongside bracken in an open mosaic.
• Most land managers who had bracken on their land reported that the area had not changed over the last 5 years (56%). With 35% reporting that bracken area had increased in this time period and 9% that it had decreased.
• Most land managers who had bracken on their land had not treated it in the last 5 years (64%) and most did not treat bracken in 2025 (77%).
• Most land managers who had bracken on their land had never used the herbicide Asulox (73%).
• In total, 322 ha of bracken were treated with at least one bracken management method, this represented treatment of 9% of the total area of bracken reported. The most common management method was mechanical control (used on 90% of the treated area). Chemical management (glyphosate) was used on 9% of the treated area. Livestock trampling and manual management practices were recorded on <0.5% of the treated bracken area.
• The majority of bracken management (88%) was conducted during June, July and August.
• Overall, 68% of respondents reported that their 2025 bracken management practices were reasonably effective (45%) or effective (23%).
• Of those respondents who had used Asulox in the past the majority (67%) reported that current bracken management practices were less effective than Asulox.
• The average estimated cost for bracken management in 2025 was £102 per hectare. No financial grant or scheme assistance was provided for bracken management to any of the respondents.
• A small majority of land managers intend to manage bracken in future (54%), the most common intended future management practice was mechanical treatment.
• Several respondents noted that some areas are inaccessible to any other management practice than aerial spraying and effective bracken management is difficult without authorisation of a herbicide that can be applied in this way.