January Ends with ‘Optimistic’ Outlooks for Scottish Farmers
07 February 2012
UK - Half the amount of rain fell in the Scottish Borders last month, in comparison to the same time last year.
This month produced 22mm, or just under one inch of rain, compared to the 55mm (two inches) of rain and snow which fell last year, reports the Scottish Farmer.
That has already acted as a talisman and machinery is being readied to start applying fertiliser and the spring crop seed drills are waiting to go.
The hiatus in the weather has also allowed winter sown crops to begin looking better, but the HGCA are telling farmers that mildew has been spotted in some winter barley crops; phoma and light leaf spot is becoming more widespread in oilseed rape; and wheat bulb fly hatch has now started across the country.
The final 2011 UK wheat harvest figures have just been released, which shows that 15.3m tonnes of wheat were produced, which is a 3 per cent increase on 2010. This was mainly due to a 2 per cent increase in wheat area to 2m ha, combined with a 1 per cent increase in yield to 7.7 t/ha.
The total utilised agricultural area in the UK remains unchanged at 17.2m ha. Almost 36 per cent of this land is considered to be croppable and the total croppable area is 2 per cent larger than in 2012.
With the latest wheat figures of 15.3m tonnes, down 106,000 tonnes on previous estimates, this will see an exportable surplus of 2.5m tonnes of which 2m tonnes will have been exported by the end of this month. As a result of tighter domestic markets, this is pushing wheat prices higher coupled with ongoing weather concerns world wide.
Argentina, which is the world’s second largest maize exporter and third largest soyabean exporter, has seen predictions of record crops dashed by above average temperatures and lack of rainfall since the start of December. This is affecting yields on maize and soyabean production to an extent that output is expected to be 18 per cent lower than original estimates.
Also, in Ukraine, damage from the autumn drought has seen a reduction in planting and damage to crops affecting 30 per cent of the wheat crop that is in the ground. Latest estimates indicate a drop in wheat production from 22.3m tonnes in 2011 to 14m tonnes in 2012.
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