A 7% increase in the area of spring barley sown, coupled with higher yields, resulted in a 15% increase in production, making 2020 a record year for the crop on farms, Scottish Government figures confirm.

Spring barley now accounts for 55% of total crop production in Scotland.

Across all crops, the area planted was very similar to the previous year, but a 2% increase in yield resulted in a small increase in production to just over 3.1m tonnes.

In other enterprises, cattle numbers are down again, with a 1% fall recorded in 2020, taking the total to a 60-year low.

But lamb numbers continue to recover from the storm in 2018, and are 2% higher than the previous year.

The total workforce on agricultural holdings remained stable at 66,700 people.