Farming in Scotland

Some 75% of Scotland’s land mass is under agricultural production, making the industry the single
biggest determinant of the landscape we see around us. Scotland’s farmers, crofters and growers
produce output worth around £2.3 billion a year, and are responsible for much of Scotland’s £400
million food exports, rising to £2.4 billion if whisky exports are included.

Around 65,000 people are directly employed in agriculture in Scotland – this represents around 8% of
the rural workforce and means that agriculture is the third largest employer in rural Scotland after the
service and public sectors. It is estimated that a further 250,000 jobs (1 in 10 of all Scottish jobs) are
dependent on agriculture.

The agri-food sector is now the UKs largest manufacturing sector.

Around 85% of Scotland is classified as Less Favoured Area. This is an EU classification which
recognises natural and geographic disadvantage.

There are large numbers of farms in north west Scotland, but these are significantly smaller in terms of
the numbers of livestock/area of crops grown than farms elsewhere. Sheep farming is the predominant
type of farming in the north west and there are also many sheep farms in the south of the country.
Larger cereal farms are concentrated in the east. Beef farming takes place throughout Scotland, but is
particularly common in the south west. This area also has the bulk of the dairy industry.

Total income from farming in Scotland in 2008 was £630 million.

Forestry in Scotland

Forests in Scotland cover more than 1.2 million hectares which represents approximately 16% of the
land area. A total of 0.15 million hectares of these forests are native.

Scotland has long relied on other countries for wood. By the 16th century, there was an established
import trade from the eastern Baltic and Scandinavia. This was because it had already become difficult
to source all the timber needed for building purposes from accessible forests within Scotland. As trade
followed exploration and colonisation, so wood also came into Scotland from North America and from
tropical forests. At the beginning of the 20th century, Scotland (like the rest of the UK) depended
almost entirely on imported wood, mainly from Sweden, Russia, Canada and the United States of
America (USA).

Kadakas, kask, paju, pihlakas, haab; MÄND

The forests are now well protected!

Fishing in Scotland

The fishing industry in Scotland comprises a significant proportion of the United Kingdom fishing
industry. A recent inquiry by the Royal Society of Edinburgh found fishing to be of much greater
social, economic and cultural importance to Scotland than to the rest of the UK. Scotland has just
under 8.6% of the UK population but lands at its ports over 60% of the total UK catch of fish

The main fishing areas are the North Sea and the seas west of Scotland.

The Scottish fish processing industry accounts for 49% of the turnover of UK fish processing industry.
[1]
Geographical distribution of the turnover of the Scottish industry is 65% around Aberdeen; 24% in
central and southern Scotland; and 11% in the Highlands and Islands.[1] The industry forms an integral
part of the fishing-based economy. It accounts for more jobs than the catching industry and
aquaculture combined.
Norway lobster