Sowing figures show no bounce for spring barley
As Scotland’s combines champ at the bit, with the starting tape likely to be raised on the winter barley harvest proper next week, figures revealed that while the acreage of this crop has risen, the area sown to spring barely has failed to recover from last year’s slump.
And as growers around the country reined in their impatience, in East Berwickshire Neil White said that, despite predictions of a very early harvest, it was likely to be next week before the combines were out in serious force.
“I have been washing down my combine but haven’t started yet,” he said. “My first winter barley looks like it will cut at the middle to end of next week depending on the weather. Crops of winter barley look good from the road so we hope they are good when through the combine.”
Further north, Colin Dargie, of East of Scotland Farmers, said that while many of the early starts had been combining for crimping, a handful had been taking advantage of the dry weather to try an early entry this week.
However, he said he too expected the first serious entries to begin next week, with things in full swing by 24 July.
“There are however crops still seven days away from pre-harvest glyphosate so winter barley could be a bit spread out,” he said. “First OSR crops are being desiccated now so around three weeks to harvest.”
Kerry Clark, the NFUS regional manager for the Lothian and Borders, said that eastern regions of her area hoped to start next week, but windy conditions had been delaying applications of pre-harvest desiccants.
Gavin Dick, development officer for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Scotland, said: “Looking at crops over the last week or so, I suspect there will be much more of a spread out start than normal but with the bulk being towards the end of the month unless a really hot dry spell arrives now – particularly further north. I think harvest will be early but not exceptionally so.”
However, the AHDB’S annual planting survey released yesterday showed that the spring barley acreage had failed to recover from last year’s ten-year low. The survey estimated the area at 239,000ha, virtually unchanged from 2016. Meanwhile, oats, winter barley and to a lesser extent oilseed rape, looked to have benefited as growers had also cut back on wheat.
The survey indicated that, at 104,000ha, the wheat area was back 5 per cent on the year while winter barley plantings had grown by 6 per cent to 51,000ha. Oats had increased substantially to 35,000ha, a rise of 12 per cent, giving the highest area grown since 1989 – while the oilseed rape acreage rose by 6 per cent to 33,000 ha. Malting barley varieties with full approval this year accounted for 57 per cent of the total Scottish area down from last year’s 64 per cent.
However, while the malting barley area had not picked up in Scotland, there had been a 9 per cent increase in the area devoted to the crop south of the Border.