Harvest is complete at Fearn Farm in north-east Scotland. But other parts of the country have struggled – and now drilling conditions are proving difficult too. Ian Ashbridge reports

John Scott admits he has been fortunate this harvest. A small wheat area of 48 acres was cleared successfully and the farm’s barley is now safely in the shed too. It’s also the first year the Scotts have benefited from the new grain drier installed last year, partly funded under Scotland’s Rural Development Programme.

“We were luckier than some, there’s no doubt. Everything we had is in the shed in good order, and even the stuff that came off at 22% was down to under 15% pretty quickly with the new drier. But I am aware that others haven’t been so fortunate – Aberdeenshire has had it particularly badly.”

Although he sold a small tonnage ahead of harvest, John is also wasting no time in making the most of higher prices on the rest of his grain. “For wheat, our average price this season will probably be about £143/t. I sold about a third at £122.50, another load at £141/t and the rest at £160/t. And I’ve also made sure we’ve locked in a portion for next November at the prices currently being offered.”

Feed barley remains unsold, while John waits to see if the market will strengthen, but malting barley had achieved prices significantly ahead of expectations. “Most of our malting barley was sold for between £140 and £150/t – and I’d budgeted for somewhere between £110-£120, so it’s a good result,” he says.

“I’d live to get a malting barley contract now for next season but nothing’s forthcoming. However, I have set up target deals for wheat with buyers if it hits my target price. There’s no fee, but they have me on their books and know if the price is struck, they can book so many tonnes from Fearn Farm in. I’ve also committed 120t at £140/t.”

But the difficulties of the season have prevented John from getting important winter fodder crops in the ground. Two weeks of heavy rainfall have held up cultivations and drilling along the Cromarty coast and John would normally be able to count on getting stubble turnips in fairly quickly behind the combine.

“It’s just a case of spinning them on behind the quadbike, but harvest has made everything two weeks later and they haven’t come as well. However, I made a lot of haylage and silage this spring and we’re going to face winter with a lot more forage than usual, so we’re well prepared.”

With the nights drawing in, John and his father James are beginning to think about bringing stock indoors and questioning whether a bale shredder will suit their system and make bedding up sheds a quicker process. “I need to try a couple out and think about how much fuel they’ll use and how much time they could save. And I need a machine that can cope with big Hestons, because they’re the most efficient way for me to clear a field.”

Scanning results showed a couple of empty cows and with more intensive culling this year, John reckons he will calve nearer to 100 than the usual 110 sucklers next spring. Herd health is extremely high and while the herd is BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) accredited, John is considering whether to seek accreditation for leptospirosis and IBR (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis).

“We had BVD here about 15 years ago and I am super-careful of our high health status. We’re accredited for BVD and Johne’s Disease, but it’s a question of whether we push ahead and go for the others too. Do our buyers want it? We’re testing for Johne’s again shortly so could test for the others at the same time.”

The Scottish Government has stated its determination to see BVD eradicated and John Scott is wholeheartedly behind the move. “What BVD can do to a herd is staggering. I think it cost us about £40,000 when it happened to us in loss of growth rates and fertility. We lost nine beef bulls at 11 months old, which was soul-destroying. It hit us financially but the psychological effects, as a farmer and a stockman, are powerful too.”

John reckons the root of the problem was showing young cattle that had little exposure to disease. “We got clear again after a couple of years. But this is the first year I’ve really started showing again and absolutely everything is vaccinated now.

“The breed societies are serious about disease eradication too and everything at breed sales has to have been tested. The days of farmers turning up to official sales with animals of uncertain health status will soon be a thing of the past.”