Weather dampens crop prices

THERE are plenty of anxious arable farmers in Scotland hoping that the incessant rains of the past few days will stop and decent weather return.

Crops of oilseed rape, which have been drenched, will rapidly deteriorate without some strong winds. Sprouting is the real danger and if this happens the value of the subsequent crop will drop rapidly and that is assuming it will not be rejected by the crushers.

Most of the winter barley in the principal cropping regions has been combined and yields and quality are reported as better than average.

However, it is clear that this year's harvest of both spring barley and winter wheat will be significantly later than normal following a largely sunless summer. Oil prices have eased recently, but the cost of drying will still be high.