This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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First estimate of cereal harvest
02/10/2003
The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department's preliminary estimate of the 2003 Scottish cereal harvest is 2.9 million tonnes. This is an increase of 15 per cent on the 2002 harvest. The rise in production is mainly attributable to an increase in total barley production - due to an improved yield.
The figures are based on area figures from the provisional June 2003 census results and an initial estimate of crop yields. The production estimate will be finalised with the publication of the 2003 Cereal Production survey early next year.
The production estimates for individual cereals are given below with last year's final figures:-
Thousand Tonnes
2003 2002
Wheat 737 739
Barley (winter) 428 410
Barley (spring) 1614 1278
Total Barley 2042 1689
Oats and
Other cereals 140 111
TOTAL CEREALS 2920 2539
Oilseed Rape 130 104
Wheat yields (tonnes per hectare) are provisionally estimated to be 11 per cent up on last year's cereal production survey results but the area sown is down by almost 10 per cent. Barley yields are 23 per cent higher with the cropped area down marginally. Oat yields increased by almost 26 per cent and the area grown rose slightly. Oilseed rape yields increased by almost 8 per cent and the area grown increased by approximately 16 per cent compared with 2002.
Totals may not necessarily agree with the sum of their components due to rounding.