Fields of gold: How the humble daffodil put Inverurie on the world map eveningexpress.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eveningexpress.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scottish farming will need to rise to the challenges of Brexit and climate change. Image: Ian Rutherford / Alamy
Pastures new: how the twin challenges of Brexit and climate change can provide new opportunities for Scottish farming
When Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an eleventh hour Brexit trade deal on Christmas Eve, Scottish farming breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Since the vote in favour of EU withdrawal in 2016, organisations such as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland had warned of the calamitous impact of a no-deal outcome.
The final deal fell some way short of providing frictionless trade, but the EU’s decision to grant third-country listing status to the UK and to approve the export of meat and dairy was crucial, with Scottish red meat exports alone worth £80m annually.
Could this thick crop of barley benefit from winter grazing sheep?
Scottish trials on grazing winter cereals with sheep show the potential for earlier drilling dates, better pest/disease control and increased yield potential.
This is according to recent results from a trial carried out Graham and Iain Wilkinson’s mixed enterprise, Balgay Farm.
The trial consisted of two one-hectare blocks drilled with winter wheat, winter barley and winter oats.
Each crop block was split down the middle with an electric fence and sheep were allowed to graze one half, but not the other.
We were concerned we had been too hard on the winter barley and it would have a detrimental impact on the crop