Poor weather affected the output of Scottish agriculture over the past year. According to the latest official data, sheep and cattle numbers fell and there were reductions in the areas of cereals and potatoes.
However, the area of soft fruit, which is less dependent on weather conditions, saw an increase.
The snowstorm in the spring affected sheep numbers, which fell to a five-year low. The total sheep count dropped by 6% or 392,000, with lamb numbers falling by 8%. The number of breeding ewes also decreased by 4%.
Cattle numbers have followed a similar trend and are down to 1.76 million, continuing a long-term decline since the 1970s. Both dairy and beef numbers were down slightly.
The Scottish Government’s Chief Statistician released the results from the June 2018 Agricultural Census, which also highlighted the difficult growing conditions the cereal sector faced due to adverse weather.
The data shows the total area of cereals in Scotland dropped by 3% – or 12,900ha.
Increases
The area of barley, which is Scotland’s biggest crop, fell by 1% or 3,300ha. It has been a similar picture for wheat (9%) and oats (2%). However, rye continued to rise with an increase of 6%. This is still a minor crop with 5,800ha planted.
Vegetables used to feed animals also increased for the first time since 2010. This rise of 5% coincided with a decrease in vegetables grown for human consumption for the first time since 2011.
The statistics also showed an estimated increase in poultry numbers of 2% to 14.5 million chickens. This meant an increase of 4% in broiler numbers, yet for the second year in a row, the number of egg-laying birds outnumbered broilers.
In addition to these statistics, the number of people estimated to be working in agriculture has decreased by 400 to 66,600.
The area of rented agricultural land has also fallen to around 22% – its first noticeable drop since 2014. There were over 11,000ha of land rented under the new Modern Limited Duration Tenancy (MLDT) arrangements.
Agriculture continues to dominate the Scottish landscape with around 80% of the area used for farming and agriculture-related activity, with a total of 51,200 agricultural holdings.
