News

September 03, 2008

Who’d Be A Farmer Contending With Higher Costs And Bad Weather?

By Sally White

Worst for 100 years - rainfall causing havoc! That slug line has become a permanent fixture. Just in case struggling UK arable farmers thought that this summer’s weather had turned last week, August closed on Sunday delivering more of the same. The 31st was a day of torrential rain and floods!

Farmers really do have woes! Wheat is still far from harvested, ripening crops are increasingly vulnerable to weather damage, and costs of drying have risen with energy prices. Many crops are looking no better than a salvage operation, with oilseed rape particularly badly affected in Scotland. Reports say that harvesting of winter barley is close to complete – around 98 per cent in England and Wales although Scotland has still to bring in 17 per cent of its crop. Spring barley is around a third...