Farmer’s plea for weather

Farmer’s plea for weather

8 August 2012

A LOCAL farmer has warned that continuing bad weather will hit shoppers in the pocket.

Mr. Dessie Patterson, who is also a Newcastle councillor, said farmers will face many problems trying to harvest crops if warm weather doesn’t arrive soon.

He said wet ground has prevented him from taking heavy agricultural machinery into fields to cut silage and revealed it’s a problem experienced by many of his farming colleagues across the district.

“Farming has become seriously affected by the harsh weather conditions this year,” declared Mr. Patterson.

“Silage has not been cut on many hill farms this season due to the harsh weather. Grass cutting at many farms is now six weeks behind schedule which impacts on putting grazing sheep on this land after the silage has been removed.”

Mr. Patterson explained this results in farmers are having to buy in feed to beef up lambs which is very unusual for this time of year.

He also revealed the record wet weather over the past few months has had a major impact on potato farmers in particular.

“The harsh weather makes it difficult for their vehicles to travel across fields which means it’s difficult to get blight spray on crops. This in turn will lead to lower yields and higher prices in the shops,” continued Mr. Patterson.

The bad weather is also impacting on diary and suckler cow farmers, with a number having to bring animals inside to feed them at what should be the height of the summer.

“Having to do this also increases costs and I know of some farmers whose silage stocks harvested this year are already depleted by 50 per cent as they have had to feed it to their animals,” Mr. Patterson continued.

“The fact some farmers are having to do this now means it’s going to be a very expensive winter for them.”

Mr. Patterson also confirmed the bad weather has hit grain farmers.

He said a number are experiencing problems getting combine harvesters into fields and that when crops are cut, farmers face the added expense of having to dry grain for longer to get the moisture content to the correct level.

Mr. Patterson added: “The bad weather is making things really tough for the farming community. If conditions don’t improve soon and the ground starts to dry up, it’s going to be a salvaging operation at harvesting time.

“What this will do is lead to higher food prices in the shops, hitting consumers in the pocket.”