NFUS seeking data in yearly crops survey

Harvest has been completed in many parts of the country and planting for 2023 is well under way, prompting NFU Scotland to ask growers to supply information on crop yields and areas.

The information on barley, wheat, oats, oilseed rape and rye will be used by the union in future engagement with stakeholders and governments.

NFUS crops policy manager David Michie said: “The better informed we are about crop areas and yields, the better placed we are when we enter discussions with trade bodies and governments.

“The results from this annual survey – the 29th undertaken by NFUS – will keep us informed and credible when speaking to government and industry.

“We will use the online survey information to give policy and regional NFUS teams a better idea of what is happening across the country.

“The survey should only take a few minutes to complete as we only want yields and areas and, with the early harvest this year, hopefully that gives many of our members the opportunity to fill out the survey and enter the draw for the whisky.”

To complete the survey visit www.surveymonkey. co.uk/r/JS3CMZV

Meanwhile, the European farmers’ union, CopaCogeca, has confirmed that total cereal production in the EU-27 this year should reach 260 million tonnes, a significant decrease of 6.8% compared to the 2021 harvest.

However, a more positive trend is expected for oilseeds (31.9m tonnes, +7.2%) and protein crops (3.92m tonnes, +5.1%).

The summer drought has been blamed for the severe impact on the harvest of grain maize.

Production stood at 55m tonnes, down by 20% yearon-year. Durum wheat production also faced a significant backlash with 7.4m tonnes harvested (-7.4%). Common wheat production faced a smaller drop at 125.6m tonnes (-2.5%). Only the production of barley should remain stable with 51m tonnes harvested.

Overall, this places 2022 below the grain production averages of the last five years.

FRESH START: The harvest was completed early in many parts of the country.