In todays FW I describe how dry it was in the Paris basin just over a week ago and how many cereal crops were being irrigated. Yesterday I had to go to London on the train and was able to look at line-side crops from a similar high vantage as I did from the coach window in France.
I have to tell you that Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and parts of Norfolk are now showing the same symptoms of lack of rain. As in France there were several irrigators spraying water onto wheat. As in France, I suspect it will be too late.
Drought stress is widespread with great patches of wheat and barley fields losing tillers and scorching in the hot sun. Clearly the few drops of rain we've had in the last week have been too little to save them and we can expect premature ripening and low yields and quality across East Anglia. And if we don't get significant rain soon those patches will grow to cover whole fields.
Not a very good introduction to Cereals next week, I'm afraid. And the area south of Cambridge was among the worst that I saw from the train. But perhaps it will sharpen up the traders who'll be at the event as they realise it could be a sellers market from now on.