Wet weather hits harvest – and raises costs

In their latest assessment of this year’s harvest, NFU Scotland has confirmed it has been a stop/start affair but drier weather in the past week has allowed combines around the country to bring in crops. However, the damp weather means many, particularly in the west, still face tricky field conditions and almost all cereal growers will have additional drying costs to bring down moisture levels, so that crops can be stored without spoiling.

The union’s combinable crops committee chairman Ian Sands, who farms at Balbeggie, near Perth, said: “There is a lot of anecdotal evidence on just how challenging a harvest this has been with combines dodging between heavy showers of rain. that means many still have a lot of crop still to cut.