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Only about one quarter of
the land is under cultivation - mainly in cereals. Barley, wheat and
potatoes are grown in eastern parts of Scotland such as Aberdeenshire,
Moray, Highland, Fife and the Scottish Borders. The Tayside and Angus
area is a centre of production of soft fruits such as strawberries,
raspberries and loganberries, owing to the mild climate. Sheep raising
is important in the less arable mountainous regions, such as the
northwest of Scotland which are used for rough grazing, due to its
geographical isolation, poor climate and acidic soils. Parts of the east
of Scotland (areas such as Aberdeenshire, Fife and Angus) are major
centres of cereal production and general cropping. In such areas, the
land is generally flatter, coastal, and the climate less harsh, and more
suited to cultivation. The south-west of Scotland - principally Ayrshire
and Dumfries and Galloway - is a centre of dairying. Agriculture,
especially cropping in Scotland, is highly mechanised and generally
efficient. Farms tend to cover larger areas than their European
counterparts. Hill farming is also prominent in the Southern Uplands in
the south of Scotland, resulting in the production of wool, Lamb and
mutton. Cattle-Rearing particularly in the east and south of Scotland
results in the production of large amounts of beef. Farming in Scotland
has been particularly hard hit in recent years and is still recovering
from the effects of the BSE and the European ban on the importation of
British beef from 1996. Dairy and Cattle farmers in south-west Scotland
were affected by the 2001 UK Foot and Mouth outbreak, which resulted in
the destruction of much of their livestock as part of the biosecurity
effort to control the spread of the disease.
Because of the persistence of feudalism and the land enclosures of the
19th century the ownership of most land is concentrated in relatively
few hands (some 350 people own about half the land). In 2003, as a
result, the Scottish Parliament passed a Land Reform Act that empowered
tenant farmers and communities to purchase land even if the landlord did
not want to sell. About 13,340 kmē of land in Scotland is forested -
this represents around 15% of the total land area of Scotland. The
majority of forests are in public ownership, with forestry policy being
controlled by the Forestry Commission. The biggest plantations and
timber resources are to be found in Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside,
Argyll and the Scottish Highlands. The economic activities generated by
forestry in Scotland include planting and harvesting as well as
sawmilling, the production of pulp and paper and the manufacture of
higher value goods. Forests, especially those surrounding populated
areas in Central Scotland also provide a recreation resource.
Farming
Facts
From the National Farmers Union of Scotland
(NFUS)
Forestry
Commission - Scotland
A good resource for all fact about the Foresty Commission and its work |
