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Highland Grain
Registered Office:-
Glaikmore
North Kessock
Inverness
IV1 3UD
UK

Tel:  +44(0)1463 811435

Fax: +44(0)1463 811618

15 May 2008 Sowing Completed in Good Conditions

Despite a cold, wet Spring, sowing was eventually completed in late April/early May in very good conditions.  Soil temperatures had remained stubbornly low during March and the first week in April as rain and snow continued to plague the whole of Scotland.  Some spring barley had been sown in mid-March but had not been seen above ground until mid-April.   When operations began in earnest towards mid-April, conditions were near perfect and temperatures rose so that crops became established rapidly. 

With many growers bringing Set Aside land back into production, cultivations and sowing continued into the first week of May.  For the moment, all crops look very well, if a little behind “normal”; however, a warmer, slightly drier, Summer than for the last 2 years would see crops develop well and reach maturity in mid to late August, as usual.

Initial indications are that the Highland Grain throughput will be up by 8 to 10% in 2008 but this will heavily depend on yield and, with a later sowing, the prospects of higher than normal yield is unlikely, whereas lower yields are a possibility.  A dry, hot Summer could advance crops too rapidly leading to yield and quality problems whilst a cold, wet Summer could lead to harvest delays and risks of poor quality as a result.