- Published
The hottest summer on record, the longest drought, the worst harvest. West Country farmers are counting the cost of a "terrible summer", as one put it.
The wheat harvest on Charles Day's family farm in Gloucestershire was cut in half.
asserted
harvest → publish → half
"It's just soul-destroying," he says.
asserted
he → destroy → ?
Dairy farmers had to rip open silage clamps stored up for the winter to feed the cattle as the grass failed.
asserted
grass → have → cattle
Sarah Godwin calculates it cost her family's Wiltshire farm "over £100,000".
asserted
it → calculate → 100,000
She says "it's shocking".
asserted
it → say → ?
I spent the summer watching farmers install showers for cows, watch their cauliflowers burn to a crisp in the heat, and search for apples in cider orchards reduced to a tenth of their normal crop.
asserted
cauliflowers → spend → crop
Worst wheat harvest ever
Buy a loaf of bread and there's a good chance it started in the fields of Charles Day's family farm in north Gloucestershire.
"I love harvest," the fourth generation farmer tells me.
asserted
farmer → buy → me
"It's a whole year's work coming to fruition.
asserted
It → come → fruition
The crops were looking "fantastic" in April, he told me.
asserted
he → look → me
Then in June, the rain stopped and "the sun just stole our yield".
asserted
sun → stop → yield
Wheat grains shrivelled instead of fattening, and the yield plummeted.
asserted
yield → shrivel → ?
Official figures estimate the total UK cereal harvest was the lowest on record, external, wheat down about three million tonnes, or 11% according to the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).
uncertain
harvest → estimate → Board
Anthony Hopkins, AHDB director of cereals and oilseeds, says: "At a time of high input costs, arable farmers in the worst-affected areas are really feeling the financial pressure right now."
But in the South West, it was much hotter and the impact far worse.
asserted
impact → say → West
When the combines went out on Charles Day's family farm, they gathered a harvest "about 50% down, sometimes more".
asserted
they → go → harvest
"It's just soul-destroying," he adds.
asserted
he → destroy → ?
Across the South West, Tom Collins, who speaks for the NFU in Wiltshire, says most cereal farmers had seen harvests down "at least 30%".
asserted
harvests → speak → Wiltshire
Spring barley and beans were more than 50% down, he adds, particularly badly hit by the drought.
asserted
he → add → drought
"Most farmers will give this harvest 3 out of 10", he adds.
asserted
he → give → 10
Dairy costs rocket up
asserted
costs → rocket → ?
Put some butter on your bread, or cheese, and that is probably from the West Country's other farmers - dairy producers.
asserted
that → put → farmers
But unlike the wheat harvest, the amount of milk produced this summer barely fell.
asserted
amount → produce → milk
Total production is down just 4.5%, external, according to the ADHB.
uncertain
production → accord → ADHB
"That's because we have to feed our cows, and milk them, whatever the weather," explains Sarah Godwin.
asserted
Godwin → have → them
Her family raise dairy cows west of Chippenham, selling their milk to a major supermarket.
asserted
family → raise → supermarket
The Cotswolds was badly hit by the drought, leaving grazing pastures brown and without any nutrition for the cows.
asserted
Cotswolds → hit → cows
So like many farmers, the Godwins had to open their sileage planned for the winter and buy in feed to boost their cows diets.
asserted
Godwins → have → diets
"Altogether it cost us around £100,000," Godwin explains.
asserted
Godwin → cost → 100,000
"We also had a drop in production yields, that's around £20,000.
asserted
that → have → yields
"On top of that, cows suffered more lameness, lower fertility, more mastitis.
asserted
cows → suffer → lameness
They really did not enjoy the heat."
asserted
They → enjoy → heat
The family spent £15,000 installing new sprinkler systems and huge fans to cool the cattle in their sheds when they sheltered from the heat outside.
asserted
they → spend → heat
Even the normally lush fields of Somerset withered in the heat.
asserted
fields → wither → heat
Tom Kimber's family have farmed near Charlton Musgrove in south Somerset, in the heart of England's most productive grazing land.
asserted
family → farm → land
They run 250 dairy cows on their own grass, cutting sileage for the winter months.
asserted
They → run → months
By September, they would normally have three large clamps of sileage ready for winter.
asserted
clamps → have → winter
This year, they have only cut two, and had to raid one throughout July and August, to make up for the lack of grass.
asserted
they → cut → grass
But sadly, Tom Kimber is getting used to what was once freak weather.
asserted
what → get → ?
"This is the fourth drought in eight years now, so you barely financially get over the last one and you're hit with another one.
asserted
you → get → one
It's becoming far more frequent, these events.
asserted
It → become → ?
"It's incredibly difficult this constant lurching between one extreme to the other, that's what keeps you awake at night.
asserted
what → keep → night
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
