At the time of writing this column there is definitely a feeling that spring is in the air, so it will only take a spell of dry weather to allow arable farmers to start drilling spring crops and get on with their other seasonal work.

Up until now, soil temperatures in most parts of Scotland have been too low for sowing, and the land is still too wet in many areas. Autumn sown crops are needing heat to stimulate growth, particularly oilseed rape which has been under pressure from flocks of ravenous pigeons nibbling off leaves.

Mind you, flea beetles are also set to nibble oilseed rape crops this year. New figures released by Copa-Cogeca reveal EU rapeseed production is expected to fall by as much as seven per cent this year, compared to 2014, mainly as a result of the neonicotinoid seed treatment ban.

Chairman of the oilseeds working party Armaud Rousseau warned: "The situation is very serious, with declines of up to 1m tonnes in rapeseed production is estimated in Germany. Some areas have been particularly badly hit, like in parts of the UK where producers lost forty per cent of their production. What makes it worse is that there are no alternative tools for crop protection for spring varieties and crops are being destroyed by flea beetle attack."

Mr Rousseau added: "Analysis of the total extent of the insect damage is still not complete."

In addition to the problems caused by flea beetles, European farm leaders have serious concerns about the three-way talks between the EU Commission, Council and Parliament on cuts in the targets to promote the use of conventional bio-fuels in future EU bio-fuel policy.

Last month the European Parliament Environment Committee approved a proposal to introduce a six per cent cap for first generation bio-fuels that would lead to a big reduction in the EU area sown to oilseed rape. That in turn could lead to bio-fuel plant closures.

Farm leaders argue that the cuts are not justified since last year the EU was again a net exporter of rapeseeds. and therefore there is no conflict with food supplies. They warn that this new reality is in contradiction with the Indirect Land Use Changes (ILUC) factor concept that would penalise European farmers that crop the land in an environmentally friendly way.

Despite all those uncertainties, recent data published by Scotland's Chief Statistician reveal that the area of winter-sown crops in Scotland in December 2014 was similar to the previous December at 204,000 hectares (ha), with 2,300ha more wheat, offset by 1,300ha less barley and 500ha less oats. Oilseed rape was relatively unchanged.

However, new estimates for EU cereals plantings in 2015 reveal EU cereals production is expected to drop by as much as eight per cent this year, compared to last year, mainly as a result of the new greening measures under Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform.

Newly elected chairman of Copa-Cogeca's Cereal Working Party, Max Schulman said: "Latest figures show that EU-28 cereals production will be down eight per cent this year to reach 293.9m tonnes compared to last year and the area will fall by around four per cent. This is mainly as a result of the new greening measures under CAP reform. Farmers have been particularly careful this year to avoid the excessive cuts in their payments which apply when they make even a very slight, unintentional error in implementing the new rules. The rules need to be simplified and made more flexible for farmers in order to be effective and to meet rising world food demand."

Mr Schulman went on: "In addition, farmers and cooperatives have more serious concerns about new EU rules governing futures markets (Mifid). Unless the rules are clarified, farmers and cooperatives will be classified as a financial operator despite the fact they are economic operators and deliver physical goods. Implementation of the Mifid II regulation would cause unnecessary red tape and regulation in their work simply due to misinterpretation of a European definition," he warned.

Those concerns were backed up by Neale White who farms Greenknowe at Dunns in Berwickshire, who said: "With large volumes still to sell, the falling wheat price is a huge concern for all and the proposed ban on futures trading could be a potential disaster for the sector. That, coupled with the ridiculous situation that seems to be ongoing with greening, is making the whole job difficult to plan and budget going forward."