Crop Production in the East of Scotland - SASA

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Introduction“heartlands” of Fife, Perth and Stirling, withwide river valleys; here the carselands(recent estuarine deposits, in some areasstripped of lowland peat) are a majorfeature. The coastal strip develops into awedge through the red soils of Angus andthe Mearns (Kincardine), reaching itsnarrowest point around Stonehaven wherethe Grampian Mountains meet the NorthSea. North of Aberdeen, arable cropping isdistributed through the essentiallylivestock-producing areas of Banff andBuchan, where the Aberdeen Angus breedof cattle originated; but there is one lastextensive area of arable land between Elginand Nairn (the Laich, or sheltered land, ofMoray) in the rainshadow of the mountainsof the West and Northern Highlands.As we shall see in Chapter 4, the principalproducts of Scottish arable farms are barley(for livestock feed and malting), wheat(principally used for the production of grainspirits) and grass (in the form of silage orgrazing), with significant areas of oilseedrape and potatoes (seed and ware). Thereare also small areas of specialist crops suchas soft fruit, vegetables and oats for humanconsumption.Similar Areas Elsewhere in theWorldTo place Scotland in a global context, Table1.1 presents data from a range of othercountries experiencing cool long days(boundary set at 55ºN). There are nocomparable areas in the southernhemisphere. It should be noted that cerealyields in Scotland and Fenno-Scandinaviaare well above the world mean. The figuresfor Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are forcountries in economic transition, and areconsiderably below their potential.Brief History of the Agricultureof Lowland ScotlandThe recent history of agriculture in the UK,including Scotland, has been dominated bythe Common Agricultural Policy of theEuropean Union, which is evolving atpresent under “Agenda 2000”.Nevertheless, some aspects of Scottishagriculture, notably its farm structure, landtenure, rural population density and theextent of forest cover, cannot beunderstood without understanding itsTable 1.1Mean yields of all cereals in areas experiencing “Cool Long Days”(t/ha at 15% dm)Country 1994-96 1984-86 1974-76Scotland 6.91 6.08 3.95Norway 3.81 3.91 3.08Sweden 4.40 4.06 3.69Denmark 5.93 5.18 3.71Finland 3.48 2.97 2.58Estonia 1.76Latvia 1.85Lithuania 2.02Mean 3.77 4.44 3.40World Mean 2.82 2.55 1.87Source : United Nations, Food and Agricultural Organisation Production Yearbooks9
Crop Production in the East of Scotlandhistory. As this history is distinctlydifferent from that of other Europeancountries, a brief guide follows.OriginsScotland was entirely encased in ice up to20,000 years ago, and the land surface wasnot finally exposed for a further 10,000years. Some important arable areas, forexample the Laich of Moray and thecarselands of Perth and Stirling, did notfully emerge from the sea until around1,000 years ago, as a result of the slowrebound of surfaces depressed by hugeweights of ice. As no soils from previousinterglacial periods survive, virtually all ofthe soils of Scotland date from around10,000 years ago (Chapter 3).As the climate improved, the advance ofvegetation culminated in dense forest andscrub (varying proportions of birch, pine,hazel and oak, depending on habitat, withalder and willows in wet areas). The earlyhunters would have had little impact on theenvironment but, by the start of theSecond Millennium BC, a surprisinglysophisticated neolithic society (fine goldjewellery, elaborate pottery and complexfunerary arrangements) had emerged in thelowlands of Scotland; these people were atleast partly sedentary and partly dependentupon small-scale cropping of cereals andfibres, and livestock rearing. They wereattracted by light, well-drained soils,particularly in treeless areas such asOrkney but, on the mainland, they beganthe onerous work of felling the forest andclearing stones and boulders. Laterneolithic/Bronze Age achievements, notablymegalithic building (e.g. Maes Howe) andcomplex stone circles (e.g. at Callanish),show that there was a continuing surplus offood beyond subsistence needs.Up to the medieval period, the rate ofprogress in clearing the forest andcultivating the soil of the lowlandsdepended upon a variety of factors (e.g.slowed by cooler, wetter conditions around1,000BC; accelerated by the advent of irontools around 500BC; interrupted by periodsof warfare). By 1200AD, it is likely thatmost of the potentially-productive lowlandsof the East of Scotland had been cleared offorest. The uplands also began to lose theirforest cover at that time owing to theintensive sheep rearing introduced by themonasteries; grazing pressure and timberexploitation over the following 500 yearsensured that virtually all of the nativewoodland in the study area disappeared.The areas of arable agriculture (moreintensively-cultivated infield, and outfield,with complex subdivisions to ensure fairdistribution of land among tenants),devoted to the production of barley andoats for direct human consumption, wereislands of cultivation in a wider sea ofcommon land, which was exploited forgrazing, fuel (wood and peat) and buildingmaterials (stone and turf). The fraction ofthe land area that was cultivated fluctuatedaccording to population and climaticchanges, but, at least from the seventeenthcentury onwards, an increasing proportionof the uncultivated land came intocultivation.The Basis of Land TenureFrom around 1150, the rulers of Scotlandintroduced a feudal system of land tenureto the lowlands of Scotland, although moredistinctly Celtic or Nordic arrangements didsurvive much longer in the West and North.In the East of Scotland, as defined here, thechanges were complete by 1250, after themilitary subjugation of the last Celtic rulersof Moray. Although formally styled King orQueen of Scots, the medieval rulers ofScotland considered themselves to beoutright owners of all of its land. Theconcept of feudal tenure was imposed onEngland by the invading Normans (i.e. from10
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