THE FIFTH wettest summer on record has left Scotland’s hill farmers struggling to complete routine tasks such as gathering and clipping sheep, weaning lambs and making hay or silage.
Since the start of June, the Met Office reports that the west of Scotland has been the wettest region of the UK with more than half a metre of rain falling in the three months to August 30.
With hill farmers and crofters significantly behind in their workload, it makes submitting an accurate application to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) ahead of the October 16 deadline extremely challenging for some.