The Scottish cereals sector is around two weeks behind typical sowing dates, but there is no need to press the 'panic button' just yet, according to those in the industry.

NFU Scotland’s combinable crops committee chair, Willie Thomson, who farms in East Lothian, said he was around 10-days behind the typically stage of spring cereal sowing, but was confident that a decent run of weather would see the work completed.

Mr Thomson said: “We only had 100 acres to go in and conditions were good. The frost over winter had helped the earlier ploughed ground and once we started, it didn’t take long to go in.

"But everyone has had a slow start. We would usually sow around the time the clocks change, but not this year. Some beans were sown locally in February, then March was a right-off in the Lothians and Borders.

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"Even into the first week of April there was not much activity. But there is a change here now, though, so everyone is going 100 miles an hour to get everything done. If we get a good run it wont be too dragged out with most folk wanting everything done by the third week in April.

"There is a lot of work to cram into a short space of time and it is not just sowing but also fertiliser and spraying which has been delayed with wet and windy weather,” he added.

Further north, in Aberdeenshire, Scott Campbell, who farms beside Kintore, explained that his region was around two weeks behind where they would usually be. He said: “I looked back at the diaries and saw that the average starting day for the last ten years has been March 25.

"I would say the ground is damp at the moment, but it will dry up quick if the forecast is to be believed. We are supposed to get 17°C by April 25. If we get a decent week to 10 days, then a lot of the spring crops will be sown in Aberdeenshire and not too many cereal fields will need sown in May.

"There is also pressure to get fertiliser onto winter crops and keep the spray timing on track. Even with bigger equipment nowadays, you still need a calm and dry day to work. Everything is coming together for a very busy spring, when things heat up plants will really start growing fast.”