Good conditions for sowing barley in Caithness

Farmers across the county are enjoying another fine late spring and early summer season for sowing barley – the biggest local cereal crop.

Local agricultural technician AI Willie Mackay said that thousands of acres of spring barley was being sown throughout the county.

He said: "Scotland as a whole accounts for 28 per cent of all barley grown in the UK, 35 per cent of which goes for malting the rest is used as animal feed.

"Most farmers in Caithness are reporting ground conditions for sowing at their best and are completing the operation up to a week earlier than 2018/19."

At one large local farming unit – Skinnet, Halkirk – all 280 acres of barley sown will be kept on the farm to use as feed for the cattle, which can total up to 500 head annually.

Twenty acres of oats are also grown at Skinnet for feeding 900 cross mule ewes which started to deliver their lambs last week. The farming unit totals 1064 acres, of which 600 are arable.

Local NFU representative Arnott Coghill, of Skinnet said: "The sowing is going well, the conditions are ideal. It has been a long dry spell now, ideal weather for lambing and calving."

He added that the coronavirus lockdown is having a knock-on effect with restaurants shut and no exporting – the price of beef is down around 10p per kilo and sheep around £1 per kilo.

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