Frustrating stop/start harvest continues as growers encouraged to provide yield and area details
With many parts of Scotland finally getting harvest underway, and planting for 2025 harvest being undertaken, NFU Scotland is asking growers to now complete its 31st consecutive annual harvest survey.
The Union is only seeking information on yields and crop area for barley, wheat, oats, oilseed rape and rye – nothing else – so completing the survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D5YDBH7 is quick and easy. The survey will close on Monday 23 September.
And there is the added incentive that all those who complete the survey will be entered into a draw for a bottle of Scottish premium gin.
NFU Scotland’s Combinable Crops Committee Chair, Jack Stevenson said: “For those growers that are already well on with harvest, the common theme we are hearing is that it an average harvest here in Scotland with huge variations in yield and quality.
“With record rainfall since October 2024, winter crops have suffered from the moment they were planted.
“Spring crops have done better even though they were late in the ground. We had decent amounts of sunshine and growth in June and July, so the potential is there for a good crop.
“However, the weather continues to frustrate. Here in the North East, we had 35mm of rain last week and with little sign of it improving, crops of spring barley that are ripe now desperately need harvesting to make sure they make the malting specification.
“As of Friday 6 September, I would estimate only 10 per cent of spring barley and a small area of wheat have been harvested in the North East region. We need at least three weeks of sunshine to get the harvest in and next year’s winter crops planted and get them off to a better start than last year.
“This has been a challenging growing season. We have good crops, but fingers crossed for a break in the weather to allow us to get them harvested. Then we would welcome if members could find the time to compete our annual survey.”
Senior Policy Manager John Flanagan said: “The better informed we are about crop areas and yields in Scotland, the better placed we are when we enter discussions with trade and governments. The results from this annual survey – the 31st consecutive annual survey undertaken by NFUS - will keep us informed and credible when speaking to key stakeholders.
“We will use the online survey information to give members, the Combinable Crops committee, policy and regional NFUS teams a better idea of what is happening across the country. The survey should only take a few minutes as we only want yields and areas.
“We appreciate that, in some areas, harvest is only getting started, but hopefully better weather will see significant progress in the weeks ahead, giving as many members as possible the opportunity to fill out the survey and enter the draw for the Scottish gin before the closing date of Monday 23 September.”
Ends
Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006