Cattle and sheep husbandry in the Outer Hebrides depends on hill grazing supplemented by small areas of improved or rotation grass and for winter fodder on cereals and on grass conserved as hay. The acreage of crop has decreased because of economic and social factors such as an ageing population, part-time crofting, difficulties in livestock marketing and in procurement of suitable machinery and seeds. These problems are likely to increase.

In Lewis and Harris and in the acid soils of the Uists cropping may continue as at present. The potential for development and particularly for any improvement in sheep husbandry, on which crofting depends, must be in hill pasture improvement. In the Uists machair is more important. There is need for more investigation of machair and machair cultivation. There must be greater use of grass for grazing, for conservation and as a means of raising soil fertility. Cereals may still be grown but both cereals and grass may have to be conserved as silage.