This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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First estimate of cereal and rape harvest 2006
12/10/2006
Preliminary estimates of the 2006 Scottish cereal and oilseed rape harvest were issued today.
Compared to 2005:
- Total cereal production decreased by 72,000 tonnes, or 2.7 per cent, to 2.606 million tonnes. With overall yields remaining similar in 2006 at 6.5 tonnes per hectare, much of the decrease in production is due to a fall in cereal areas of 3.2 per cent
- Total barley production decreased by 142,000 tonnes, or 8.1 per cent, to 1.595 million tonnes, mostly due to a fall in areas
- Wheat production increased by 45,000 tonnes, or 5.4 per cent, to 867,000 tonnes, mostly due to an increase in areas
- The production of oats increased by 23,000 tonnes, or 19.8 per cent, to 136,000 tonnes, which was due to increases in yields as well as areas
- Oilseed rape production decreased slightly by 3,000 tonnes, or 2.6 per cent, to 120,000 tonnes
The 2006 estimates of production are based on provisional crop areas from the 2006 June Census, along with crop yield estimates from SEERAD Agricultural Staff, supplemented by discussions with trade organisations.
The 2005 estimates of production are based on final yield results from the 2005 Cereal Production Survey and slightly revised areas from the June Census published in September 2006.
Final estimates of production from the 2006 harvest will be obtained from the 2006 Cereal Production Survey and published in January 2007.
Some caution is advised when comparing these preliminary trends in yield and production estimates between 2005 and 2006 which have been derived from different sources.