Weather challenges farmers’ harvest
Farmers across the East Midlands are counting the costs of the floods as further rain threatens this weekend, adding to the record rainfall of May and June.
"According to reports from our members in the East Midlands," says NFU's regional director, Richard Hezlet. "Some areas have been less badly affected than others, but the overall picture is not good. Many farmers keep their own weather records and some are reporting the worst summer rainfall figures in living memory.
"The rains have come at a busy time of year when farmers are looking forward to the prospects for harvest. It now looks like being a difficult and expensive time. High rainfall and waterlogged soils will create new challenges for farmers, but they will cope. Farmers live with the weather every day – its part of the business of growing food and looking after animals. Unfortunately the financial losses could be heavy for individuals, but in general they are philosophical about their situation: they know many are far worse off than they are."
Farmers are suffering particular problems with flooded fields of potatoes and other high value crops such as vining peas (for frozen pea production) and soft fruit. Other issues include lodging (or flattening) of cereal crops; potato blight and other fungal diseases brought on by warm, wet weather, and water-logging. The knock-on effects for harvest have yet to be gauged as farmers begin to think about the oilseed rape and winter barley harvesting operations, normally due in early July.
Livestock farmers are also beginning to feel the effects of the continual downpour. Slurry lagoons and silos are filling with rainwater and many will find it difficult to spread this on already saturated land. Hay and silage production could be affected, not just in terms of timing, but in quality and quantity too. Already some dairy farmers are reporting that they're feeding winter forage stocks and buying in extra supplies of cattle feed.
Richard Hezlet continued: "The immediate challenge for farmers and growers will be to make the best of a bad job. This weather is very much out of the ordinary: for the longer term, farmers will now be thinking about how they can adapt and change their farming practises and businesses to the changing climatic conditions. More and more the evidence of global warming is around us and farming is just one industry which will have to find solutions to the changing weather patterns we will face."
