Weather hits Scots cereal growers

04 August 1998

Weather hits Scots cereal growers

CEREAL crops in Scotland have been hit by heavy rains over Sunday evening and Monday, as well as strong winds.

The weather turned bad just when farmers had made a start to cutting winter barley down the east coast. Yields are moderate and quality is mixed, according to a report in The Scotsman.

Barley is worth about £80/ tonne delivered into intervention. But feed winter barley is currently fetching £60/ tonne on the spot market. Poorer samples have been selling for less in the south of England during the past week.

Trevor Wright, of Simpsons Malt in Berwick-on-Tweed, is pessimistic about the malting barley trade. This accounts for around 750,000 tonnes in Scotland each year, but Mr Wright says it is at a “virtual standstill”.

• The Scotsman 04/08/98 page 26