Rain, Rain Go Away
It tanked it down here in North Yorkshire yesterday, much more so than what was in the forecast, or even in fact than what showed up on the radar images after the event.
It certainly wasn't the predicted sunshine and showers day that the forecasters were saying, when the 'showers' did arrive, which seemed to be about every half hour, they were very heavy downpours indeed.
It would appear that there are similar problems all over the country and elsewhere. The Irish farmer who was recently quoted as saying something along the lines of "this year's harvest will be fine, I've never known three washouts in a row" may be starting to regret his misplaced blarney.
"This is the third year in a row of really dreadful grain growing conditions with no light on the horizon for better harvesting conditions as it continues to pelt it down. Winter barley crops are beginning to suffer from the onslaught of recent weeks and, everywhere now, one can see areas of fields lying over. My own crop is no different. It is with dismay that I look across the fields and view the ever-growing flat patches," is how one farmer quoted in the Irish Independent sees it.
"Floodwater carves 25m gully through barley field," is one headline from our own County Durham this morning. The trench is apparently 'hundreds of metres long and up to four metres deep.'
Rain appears to have stopped play elsewhere in Europe too with Reuters saying "Constant showers have disrupted Germany's barley harvest in the past two weeks. The pattern of showers followed by cloudy, humid weather may bring fungal growth on wheat if it continues in the next two weeks."
The compounder who emailed me a few months back saying that his main concern this year was the number of farmers carrying 'rubbishy' old crop into new, may be looking to pay a premium for that 'rubbishy' old crop before long!
It certainly wasn't the predicted sunshine and showers day that the forecasters were saying, when the 'showers' did arrive, which seemed to be about every half hour, they were very heavy downpours indeed.
It would appear that there are similar problems all over the country and elsewhere. The Irish farmer who was recently quoted as saying something along the lines of "this year's harvest will be fine, I've never known three washouts in a row" may be starting to regret his misplaced blarney.
"This is the third year in a row of really dreadful grain growing conditions with no light on the horizon for better harvesting conditions as it continues to pelt it down. Winter barley crops are beginning to suffer from the onslaught of recent weeks and, everywhere now, one can see areas of fields lying over. My own crop is no different. It is with dismay that I look across the fields and view the ever-growing flat patches," is how one farmer quoted in the Irish Independent sees it.
"Floodwater carves 25m gully through barley field," is one headline from our own County Durham this morning. The trench is apparently 'hundreds of metres long and up to four metres deep.'
Rain appears to have stopped play elsewhere in Europe too with Reuters saying "Constant showers have disrupted Germany's barley harvest in the past two weeks. The pattern of showers followed by cloudy, humid weather may bring fungal growth on wheat if it continues in the next two weeks."
The compounder who emailed me a few months back saying that his main concern this year was the number of farmers carrying 'rubbishy' old crop into new, may be looking to pay a premium for that 'rubbishy' old crop before long!