IT should come as no surprise that farmers in the West of Scotland are struggling to finish the cereals harvest in the atrocious weather conditions.

Worst affected is Ayrshire, where the situation is described as “dire” and ground conditions “diabolical” with lots of straw lying un-baled and 30% of harvesting still to go.

Virtually no winter sowings have taken place.

Dumfries and Galloway has fared slightly better with 80%-90% of harvest completed and some small pockets of winter crops sown. As with neighbouring Ayrshire, straw is proving difficult to bale.

Elsewhere in Scotland, most have tidied up with only pockets of wheat to cut and sodden fields holding up groundwork for winter crops.

Another worry is the slow progress of the potato harvest with growers becoming concerned about the onset of frost.

NFU Scotland vice-president Allan Bowie reports that in Fife the going has been slow and sticky and that he has managed to pick just over 25% of his crop. He said: “The potatoes are now ready, but we need to get them out of the ground.

“We’re finding more soft rots than normal because of the weather, and we’re finding potatoes higher in the drill so there are more greens that need to be picked off. We’re trying to do the heavier soils now in case of continual wet weather over the next couple of weeks.

“Other regions appear to be in the same boat. One grower I spoke to in Perthshire, who has 400 acres of tatties, has only picked 20 acres so far, so things are just getting started,” he added.

JOHN Swan had an increased entry of 1485 continental cross store cattle at their annual sale in St Boswells on Thursday when the overall average rose by £108.40 on the year.

Bullocks averaged £886.37 (+£109.77 on the year) and 190.5p per kg (+22.2p), while heifers levelled at £773.13 (+£106.16) and 183.1p (+28.7p).

United Auctions sold 3424 prime lambs at Stirling on Thursday to a top of £83.50 per head and 199p per kg to average 169.9p (+16.2p on the week).

The 1367 cast sheep forward saw ewes sell to £105.50 for Bluefaced Leicesters and £63.50 for Blackfaces.

The Cumberland & Dumfriesshire Farmers’ Mart sold 4567 prime lambs in Longtown on Thursday to a top of £90.50 per head and 204p per kg to average 170.2p (+8p on the week).

There were also 6497 cast sheep forward with heavy ewes selling to £130.50 for Texels and averaging £74.36, while light ewes peaked at £82.50 for Cheviots and levelled at £45.99. Cast rams sold to £138.50 for Texels and averaged £75.96.

The firm went on to sell 1685 store sheep at its weekly sale in Dumfries yesterday. Top prices and averages for store lambs: NCC £64 and £61.22; SuffolkX £55 and £54.63; Texel £59 and £58.65; Hill Cheviots £45 and £32.81; Blackface £44 and £28.72; Mules £52 and £28.72.