Scottish Agricultural Census - provisional results: June 2020

Introduction

Main Findings

The number of cattle in Scotland continues to decline. The long-term trend indicates that dairy cows remain relatively stable, whilst the number of beef cows continues to fall.

Lamb numbers continue to recover from the storm in 2018, and are two per cent higher than they were in the previous year.

The area used to grow vegetables, excluding potatoes, for human consumption grew by 13 per cent. The area used to grow vegetables for stockfeed remained relatively stable.

A sharp fall in winter planted crops due to extreme weather conditions in autumn and in winter was followed by an increase in spring planting. The overall area for growing cereals and oilseeds was similar to 2019.

The total workforce on agricultural holdings remained relatively stable at 66,900 people.