Farmer Focus: Drought to downpour cancels the epic harvest
© Tim Scrivener I know it’s a bit of a platitude and certainly quintessentially British, but I’m going to have to play up to the stereotype of a grumpy farmer and whinge about the weather.
I have friends to the west and north of me who are struggling to make silage because it just won’t stop raining.
Here, in sunny Buckinghamshire, it feels like months since we had a measurable drop.
See also: 5 tips for managing livestock and grazing in drier weather
About the author
If I were a religious type, I would have been praying for rain throughout May and June and a fair chunk of April, too.
The pasture started to more resemble a bad day in the Kalahari, than our green and pleasant land, and the wheat….. oh the wheat.
It looked so promising in early spring, then increasingly needy until, in the end, it skipped its senescence and just died.
Shrivelled grains and barely tall enough to crest my knee – it’s not going to be an epic harvest. Never mind, there’s always next year.
Meanwhile, we’ve been buffer feeding all of the groups of cattle for the last few weeks.
Hopefully, I’ll have enough forage to be able to get away with it; some of my neighbours may not be so fortunate.
Then came my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary and, hats off to them, that really is quite an achievement.
My siblings and I organised a bit of a party for them up at my house. Lots of bubbly and more folks than would ever fit into my living room.
Not to worry though (I thought) as it hasn’t rained in months, so we could just have the party in the garden.
If only I’d known all it takes to get a good watering is to organise a party as, sure enough, the heavens opened about an hour before kick-off and it has only just stopped a few days later.
Perhaps the downpour had less to do with the party and more to do with the fact that harvest is ready.
I’d made a bet with my dad a few weeks ago that the rain would coincide with the combine’s arrival. He thinks I’m cynical, I’m inclined to agree.