Stock feeding crops rose by 1.7% this year to over 17,000ha, according to the Scottish Government’s census figures.

This could be a reaction to high winter fodder costs last year as farmers look to keep cattle cheaper.

Turnips and swedes were the most popular crop, with over 3,800ha grown. Fodder rape was the second most planted, followed by kale/cabbage mixes.

The census also indicated that farmers are changing the greening options for their basic area payment claims. The area of fallow has fallen to just over 30,000ha from a high of over 40,000ha when the current rules came into place. This could indicate farmers are using more field margins or buffer strips which have a higher weighting or they could be growing green cover.

The arable area for cereals rose by 2.5% to 437,258ha. Within this there was a 7% rise in wheat productions to just over 107,000ha. The area of barley grown in Scotland remained largely the same at just over 290,000ha while fine weather last year helped winter planting to increase by 30% to 48,000ha.

Last year oilseed rape areas dropped 2.7% to just under 32,000ha while field beans also dipped by 11.3% to just over 1,800ha. Over the last 10 years the area of Scotland under combinable crops has fluctuated from a high in 2014 of 503,000ha to a low of 462,000ha in 2018.

Grass steady

The area of grass has been steady for a number of years at 1.3m hectares, however the average age of grass is getting a bit older as the amount under five years old fell by 4% to 187,000. Rough grazing in Scotland amounts to 3.1m hectares, up 3.4% on the year.

This all brings the total area of Scotland farmed (excluding 580,000ha of common grazing) to around 5.6m hectares, which has been fairly consistent for the last 10 years.

Finally, a small but growing sector is fruit trees. Over the last 10 years, orchard fruit has more than tripled in area from only 37ha to 128ha.