Have you considered: What are the main types of agriculture in Scotland? Find out how Scotland manages arable farming, crofting, livestock and dairy farming.

Arable Farming

Arable farming helps to protect small animals, insects, birds and rarer plants, including cornflower. They are usually smaller in size, ranging from 100-250 hectares. These mixed farms, which include arable crops and breeding livestock, are mainly in Grampian. 

Here are the crops that are widely grown in Scotland: 

Crofting

In the North and West of Scotland, there are over 750,000 hectares of land in crofting tenure. The climate and the type of land affect agricultural production, affecting the crofters who earn most of their living from the croft. 

A croft was traditionally a small area of ground cultivated to grow crops such as potatoes, oats, rye and bere. Farmers used this to feed the livestock, including the sheep and cattle. 

Hill Farming

So much of Scotland's land is purely dedicated to sheep farming, mixed sheep farming and beef cattle farming; in fact, up to fifty-five per cent of it! The sheep in Scotland have to be adapted properly to cope with the harsh Scottish climate and long winter months that they need to cope with as they spend most of the time outdoors, eating hay and silage. 

If your grass is overgrazed, it can cause erosion in the soil, and on the other hand, under grazing can cause the growth of competitive plants. 

Lowland Livestock and Dairy Farming

Dairy farming is big around Scotland and is a big part of their agricultural life, but there are quite a few pollution risks, including greenhouse gas emissions and erosion. 

What are the Main Produce of Scottish Farms?

Cattle and Sheep

Beef Cattle

Scottish people are really well known for their high-quality beef and the way they look after their livestock. However, over 1.5 million cattle in Scotland in 2018, which had dropped by two per cent from the year before, was the lowest since 1957. 

Scotland holds around 30 per cent of the cattle in the UK and 4 per cent in the whole of Europe. In fact, the total production of Scotland's beef is around £675 million. Most Scottish farmers in the North West of Scotland will raise their cattle from birth until they are ready to be butchered or sold to lowland areas. 

Sheep

Scotland sold around 6.5 million sheep in the year 2018. However, there was a snowstorm, known as ' The Beast from the East, which caused the total numbers of Scotland's sheep flock to fall by around 8 per cent. 

Upland: These usually produce mule ewe lambs, which are passed onto lowland later on.  

Lowland: These flocks need a better climate to survive, as this gives them a better quality of soil, and they will get improved grazing, which results in a high-quality bred lamb.  

Hill: These are the main breeding flocks of sheep and are usually sold onto farms after breeding. 

Dairy Farms

In 2015, Scotland owned around 150,000 dairy cows, which produced just under 2 billion litres of milk and was worth just under £4 million, which put Scotland owning around 10 per cent of the dairy herd in the UK. They are mostly situated in the South West of Scotland. 

Fruit and Vegetables

Other Livestock

If you work in the agricultural industry in Scotland, you can find a range of agricultural machinery for hire. For Farm Machinery Hire in Aberdeenshire and North Scotland follow this link to find out more.