UK Wheat Exports Fall As Do Scottish Plantings

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 11:34 | Categorized as

14/03/12 -- The latest customs data shows UK wheat exports in January falling to 219 TMT, a drop of almost 33% on December's shipments. Year to date exports are 1.8 MMT.

Barley exports were 65 TMT, with a year-to-date total of 521 TMT. Rapeseed shipments slumped to just 3 TMT in January bringing the total for the marketing year so far to 500 TMT.

Meanwhile the latest figures out for Scotland appear to show that an even wetter than normal autumn saw reduced winter plantings for wheat, barley, OSR and oats.

Scottish farmers face multiple disadvantages to their better looking, non-ginger English brethren including the fact that autumn only lasts for three days up there before winter kicks in. Hence the skirt wearing Picts only managed to get 98,626 hectares of winter wheat into their rain sodden Jock soil last year. That's 13.6% down on last year.

Jock winter barley plantings are said to be down 3.1%, with the winter OSR area down 3.4%. Looks like they're going to be busy busy if and when spring arrives up there.