What a year! The coldest and wettest on record! To think only a year ago Thames water was telling us that we are in a drought after the dry-est winter on record! Now, all the underground rivers are bursting at the seams and our poor farmers are struggling to plant their crops whilst coping with the lambing season in the most atrocious conditions.
Lambing season should be an exciting time for farmers but I suspect this year due to the conditions they will be struggling to complete all their important tasks due to the impossible weather conditions.
Farmers will be waiting for the last killing frost so they can plant the wheat for harvest later this year; for some this is a good and important source of income as world wheat prices are strong.
Nevertheless, all is not lost as some farmers may plan barley as it is a little more hardier than wheat and can be planted in wet conditions; barley will grow regardless and is a good food source for the farm animals. Many of our farmers will ‘shed’ their animals and use the barley as a main source of food for the animals when the conditions are as poor as they are now.
It depends on one question really; What is the farmers main source of income? If it is crops such as wheat then they are in for a tough year if the weather doesn’t change to a drier outlook very soon.
Let’s hope the weather improves soon so our farmers can plant their crops and we can all burn the rust of our barbecues; who knows?
