Bad weather may even hit our precious whisky

WHISKY distilleries may have to resort to emergency supplies of wheat and barley from abroad as torrential rain threatens to ruin Scotland’s harvest.

The crops – a key ingredient in the distilling process – are languishing in fields after heavy downpours dumped almost a month’s rain in just days.

Farmers say it is impossible to harvest crops because sodden fields cannot cope with heavy machinery, while the National Farmers’ Union said many are fac-ing ‘very worrying’ weeks ahead.

Crop growers say they need five consecutive dry days to make fields sufficiently stable to take the weight of combine harvesters and trailers. The drinks industry, meanwhile, is looking on with concern, as it needs quality barley and wheat to make whisky, gin and vodka.

As the country continues to suffer one of the wettest Augusts on record, there is little cause for optimism in the weather forecast.

Demand for summer fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries is said to be ‘subdued’ due to poor weather.

NFU Scotland’s combinable crops chairman Ian Sands, who farms at Balbeggie in Perthshire, said: ‘Growers the length and breadth of Scotland all seem to be in the same boat as we watch the promise of a very good harvest falter in the wet weather.

‘In Perthshire, it is very challeng-ing. The harvesting of winter barley and oilseed rape should all be finished but there is a bit of winter barley still to be cut and straw that has been lying for some time waiting to be baled is looking very weathered now.

‘Some losses will have inevitably happened.’

Farmer Andrew Moir, of Lau-rencekirk, in Kincardineshire, added: ‘Our oats are ready, but the land is unable to carry the combine. I know, because I tried and failed on Tuesday. Four or five dry days are needed to let ground dry enough to carry machinery.’

A spokesman for the Scotch Whisky Association said: ‘Around 90 per cent of barley and 50 per cent of wheat requirements of the industry are sourced in Scotland.

‘In some years, due to the changeable Scottish weather, yields from harvest may force dis-tillers to look further afield for cereals, with the vast majority sourced from the within the EU.’

The weather hit ferries yester-day, with CalMac halting services on its Barra to Eriskay and Mal-laig to Armadale routes due to high winds, with the possibility of further cancellations today.

Many outdoor events face con-tinued rain, including Stirling’s Summer Festival, the ‘Rockore’ music festival in Lochgelly, Fife, and the Glasgow Summer Sessions at Bellahouston Park.

Met Office spokesman Jo McLel-lan said: ‘The story is one of showers.’

‘Some losses will be inevitable’