Crop Production in the East of Scotland - SASA

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The Crops4. THE CROPSOilseed rape and cereals, The MerseCrop RotationsBy the nineteenth century, a wide range oflocal arable crop rotations had evolved;these were designed to maintain soilfertility, to control weeds and diseases, toimprove soil structure, and to generatemarketable as well as subsistence products.The classic Norfolk “four course” rotation,imported from England by the Improvers,developed into, for example, a “six course”rotation (wheat, roots, barley, hay, oats,potatoes) on the best land of the Lothians.Simpler arable rotations were usedelsewhere and short-term grassland playeda major role on Class 3 and 4 land. With theincreasing use of inorganic fertilisers andchemical methods of controlling plant pestsand diseases, the trend in the twentiethcentury has been towards rotations ofcereals only, although some othersequences have tended to persist (e.g.wheat after potatoes in the South East tomake use of high levels of availablepotassium and phosphorus). By the 1940s,the area of oats had begun to declinesharply with the replacement of the horseby the tractor, and in some areas, the roleof short-term grass has diminished to theextent that soil structure has deteriorated.However, where seed potatoes are acomponent of the cropping system, a breakof up to eight years is still required forphytosanitary reasons. In recent years,apart from the introduction of oilseed rape,the most marked change has been fromspring-sown to autumn-sown cereals, givinghigher yields (greater interception of solarradiation; Hay & Walker, 1989) and bettersoil conditions at earlier harvest (seeChapter 2). This appears to have had amajor effect on farm wildlife, owing to theremoval of the food sources associated withoverwintering stubble (see sustainabilityissues in Chapter 5).The Crops of the East ofScotlandThe distributions of crops grown in the Eastof Scotland, including short-term grass, forthe harvest years 1988 and 1997 are shownin Table 4.1 and Figures 4.1, 4.2. These showthe clear predominance of barley, grass leysand wheat, with no other crop occupying10% of the arable area.Comparisons between the two seasonsreveal the following trends:• a small increase in the total arable area,although this is reversed by theproportion of “set aside” (Table 4.1);• a relatively small increase in the wheatarea (Figure 4.2) (masked in Figure 4.1 bythe increase in arable area);31
Crop Production in the East of ScotlandFigure 4.1a Percentage areas of majorcrops in the East of Scotland, harvest1988Figure 4.1b Percentage areas of majorcrops in the East of Scotland, harvest1997Figure 4.2a Percentage areas of majorcrops in the East of Scotland (excludinggrass) harvest 1988Figure 4.2b Percentage areas of majorcrops in the East of Scotland (excludinggrass) harvest 199732• substantial decreases in the areas ofbarley (Figures 4.1,2), offset by increasesin areas of grass under 5 years (now themost extensive crop), and the inclusionof “set aside” areas;• modest increases for oilseed rape, aftera spectacular rise from zero in 1980;• the collapse of other alternative arablecrops (linseed, grain legumes) (Table 4.1)which, unlike oilseed rape, have proveddifficult to match with the Scottishclimate (Taylor & Morrice, 1991; Hay,1993) and the agribusiness sector (seealso Appendix 4);• stability in the potato sector; and• a fall in the proportion of permanentgrass on arable farms (Table 4.1).
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