Since July last year the farming community have been saying that this horrendous weather cannot last. “It has to dry up sometime.” Well it hasn’t and the situation has now become serious.

In this area autumn drilled crops are severely damaged with up to 20% of wheat needing to be re-drilled and oilseed rape even worse. Fields that are good enough to leave will be well down in yield as little or no crop care has been possible.

The land is so wet that spring cereals will not be drilled before mid April. Too late for top yields. Vegetable growers must be ready to quit.

High growing costs make early planting essential for these specialist growers and they cannot get started. So what do farmers do?

One possibility is to not spend any money on poorly established crops and to leave ground fallow – you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. No chemical company or fertiliser salesman is ever going to advise this, but serious calculations need to be done as EU subsidies will still be paid provided cross compliance regulations are adhered to.

I have an open mind on precision farming. Yes, I can see the benefits of applying varying rates of fertiliser and lime according to soil fertility mapping and the possible input savings. However, like every other decision it has to show a return on capital. Advocates are quick to point out the advantages, but I have yet to see the per hectare costs. I doubt whether it will ever be a runner on a farm of our size.

Allan Chambers farms 270ha of medium stony loam at Tullynaskeagh Farm, Tullynaskeagh, Co Down, with brother David growing cereals, grass for haylage and maize

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