Crop Production in the East of Scotland - SASA

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Geology, Soils and Land CapabilityTable 3.1 Major Arable Soils of the East of Scotland. Map units > 200km 2 ;from Brown & Shipley, 1982; Walker et al, 1982Soil Map Extent, Principal Soil Parent Texture PrelominantAssociation Unit km 2 Areas Material Soil TypeAlluvium 1 674 (E) River valleys, flood plains Freshwater alluvial Loam/sandy loam Alluvial soil437 (SE) in North East deposits over gravel*Balrownie 41 948 (E) Perth & Angus ORS Sandstone till Loam over sandy Brown forest soil271 (SE) loam/ sandy clay loam with gleying*Carpow/Panbridge 89 129 (E) Fife & Angus Raised beaches of Sandy loam Brown forest soil86 (SE) ORS materialCorby/Boyndie 97 943 (E) Moray & North East Fluvioglacial deposits of Sandy loam/loamy Humus iron podzol3 (SE) river valleys acid schists and granite sand98 471 (E) North East river valleys Fluvioglacial terraces Coarse Humus iron podzolCountesswells 115 820 (E) Aberdeen Granite till Sandy loam Humus iron podzol*Darleith 147 138 (E) Fife & Angus Basalt till Loam Brown forest soil178 (SE)Darvel 163 36 (E) Distributed throughout, Fluvioglacial deposits of Sandy loam Brown forest soil196 (SE) south of the Tay Carboniferous materialForfar (closely 239 302 (E) Angus Fluvioglacial and colluvial Sandy loam/ loam Humus iron podzolrelated to Balrownie) 4 (SE) deposits of ORS materialFoudland 243 878 (E) Banff & Buchan Dalradian schist till Sandy loam/ loamy Humus iron podzol32 (SE) sandHobkirk 296 317 (SE) Merse ORS sandstone till Sandy loam Brown forest soilInsch 316 257 (E) Aberdeen Mixed till of gabbro and schist Sandy loam/clay loam Brown forest soilKilmarnock 331 210 (SE) East Lothian Carboniferous till Loam over clay loam or clay Brown forest soil with gleying*Mountboy 414 214 (E) Angus Carboniferous sandstone Sandy loam/loam Brown forest soil with gleying70 (SE) and lava till*Winton 444 92 (E) Lothians and Fife Carboniferous till Sandy loam/loam Brown forest soil with gleying412 (SE)445 444 (E) Lothians and Fife Carboniferous till Loam/silty clay loam Brown forest soil with gleying1061 (SE) over sandy clay loam*Sourhope 472 405 (E) Fife ORS lava till Loam Brown forest soil324 (SE)*Stirling 488 216 (E) Carses of Stirling and Estuarine and lacustrine Silt loam/silty clay Non-calcareous gley261 (SE) Gowrie depositsTarves 517 629 (E) Aberdeen Mixed till of acid and basic Sandy loam/sandy Brown forest soiligneous rocksclay loamWhitesome 575 310 (SE) Merse Carboniferous and Silurian till Clay Brown forest soil with gleying27
Crop Production in the East of Scotlandharvested crops may not be idealchoices because of difficulties inharvesting. The level of yield is high butless consistently obtained than on Class 1land due to the effects of minorlimitations affecting cultivation, cropgrowth or harvesting. [Indeed, cerealyields from Class 2 land can exceedthose from Class 1, owing to superiorwater supply] The limitations include,either singly or in combination, slightworkability or wetness problems, slightlyunfavourable soil structure or texture,moderate slopes or slightly unfavourableclimate. The limitations are alwaysminor in their effect however and land inthe class is highly productive.• Class 3: Land capable of producing amoderate range of crops. Land in thisclass is capable of producing good yieldsof a narrow range of crops, principallycereals and grass, and/or moderateyields of a wider range includingpotatoes, some vegetable crops (e.g.field beans and summer harvestedbrassicae) and oil-seed rape. The degreeof variability between years will begreater than is the case for Classes 1 and2, mainly due to interactions betweenclimate, soil and management factorsaffecting the timing and type ofcultivations, sowing and harvesting. Themoderate limitations require carefulmanagement and include wetness,restrictions to rooting depth,unfavourable structure or texture,strongly sloping ground, slight erosion ora variable climate. The range of soiltypes within the class is greater than forprevious classes.• Class 4: Land capable of producing anarrow range of crops. The land issuitable for enterprises based primarilyon grassland with short arable breaks(e.g. barley, oats, forage crops). Yields ofarable crops are variable due to soil,wetness or climatic factors. Yields ofgrass are often high but difficulties ofproduction or utilisation may beencountered. The moderately-severelevels of limitation restrict the choice ofcrops and demand careful management.The limitations may include moderatelyseverewetness, occasional damagingfloods, shallow or very stony soils,moderately-steep gradients, erosion,moderately-severe climate orinteractions of these which will increasethe level of farming risk.(Descriptions from Bibby et al., 1991, withadditional material in square brackets).It is useful to subdivide Classes 3 and 4 into3 1 , 3 2 , 4 1 and 4 2 , to provide more preciseinformation on the likely proportion ofshort-term grass (leys) in the rotation,which varies from: “short grass leyscommon” (3 1 ) to “primarily grassland withsome potential for other crops” (4 2 ).Only 0.2% (4,100 ha) of the arable land ofScotland is of Class 1, located along thenorth west coast of East Lothian, and inone continuous block of 1700 ha to thenorth of Carnoustie in Tayside (Angus),known locally as “the golden mile”. In theTweed Valley, the Lothians and Tayside,continuous areas of Class 2 land make uparound half of the arable area, and they areassociated with substantial components ofClass 3 1 . At the upper altitudinal limit ofthese areas, there are large fringes of Class3 2 and 4 (see the maps in Brown & Shipley,1982; Walker et al., 1982). Fife and lowlandMoray are mosaics of Classes 2 to 4,reflecting their more complex geologies andtopographies, whereas the potential arableland in Aberdeenshire and the Stirling areais predominantly of Class 3. Over Scotlandas a whole, there are 172,000 ha of Class 228
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