THIS most miserable August has but a few days left in which to redeem itself. But even if it remains dry all this week, I suspect this month will enter the record books for all the wrong reasons. I purchased a waxed jacket about a month ago and it has hardly been off since, but I do know it is thoroughly waterproof.
Unfortunately, crops are not waterproof and there are some sad sights around the country with oilseed rape looking particularly awful. However, I suspect the combines have been out over the weekend with the weather being more helpful, but a major
difficulty is the waterlogged ground and the sheer weight of modern machinery.
I have heard of problems with 4x4 drive combines with the rear wheels digging into the ground when the going gets tough. Extricating a bogged combine takes some serious recovery tackle. On the other hand, one Borders farmer who purchased a new machine this year is feeling mighty pleased with himself. Combines do not come cheap, but he invested a further £40,000 in having tracks fitted and reckons it was one of the wisest moves he has ever made.
Many will have their own memories of difficult harvest seasons. For most of the arable farming community, the annus horriblis has to be 1985, when it rained just about every day in August and early September. Combines and pea viners were bogged down in mud and it often took days before they could be pulled out.
I recall trying to rescue a crop of wheat that gave every appearance of having been flattened with a roller. With hindsight, it might have been just as well to abandon the flattened parts of the field than struggle on and almost wreck the combine.
But the weather did improve towards mid-September and the crops were eventually gathered in – and that is what every farmer in the land must be hoping for this time around.
Then there is the added cost of drying grain, some of which has been coming in at over 20 per cent moisture. Back in 1985, oil was cheap and little real thought was given to the cost of drying: it was just something that had to be done. This time around drying will be very expensive, perhaps about £15 per tonne. With feed barley hovering around £110 per tonne on the spot market, knocking off £15 will mean the grower will lose a packet.
It is strange how quickly the gilt has vanished from the arable sector. Early this year everything looked set fair, with the futures markets decidedly optimistic on the price front. Of course, those farmers who sold forward on fixed contracts should escape the worst of the downturn in prices, but always provided their grain comes up to the required specification. The devil may yet be in the fine detail.
But it's not just arable farmers who have suffered from the deluges of recent weeks. Livestock producers have not had their troubles to seek and many lambs that should have been weaned are only now being parted from their mothers. The danger here is the ewes will have been pulled down in condition and may not have enough time to recover before being put to the ram.
That leads me on to thoughts surrounding the prospects for breeding sheep during the autumn season. I was not at last Thursday's mammoth sale of Texel ram lambs in Lanark.
The world of pedigree sheep exists in a rarefied atmosphere and while I can fully appreciate the skill and expertise of the leading exponents, I happen to think that the role of reporting these sales should largely be left to specialist publications.
I also have concerns regarding the public perception of high prices at a time when there is not a lot of money in the sheep sector. Those involved in the trade will, quite legitimately, argue that relatively few sheep change hands at extreme values.
However, I remember many years ago phoning by colleague Fordyce Maxwell from Newton Stewart informing him that a Blackface ram had just sold for £49,000. His reaction is most certainly not fit for print.
Overall, the sheep industry is in a slightly better state than last year, but only just. Last autumn the entire livestock industry was hit by movement restriction following the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey. The cattle trade held up, but sheep prices collapsed to something worse than rock bottom. The recovery has been a long time in coming.
THE UK sheep industry is not alone in having problems – there are similar difficulties across much of the European Union. That is why the announcement that there is to be "summit" next week in France at Limoges involving all the major European sheep producing nations and regions has to be welcomed.
Mariann Fischer Boel, the agricultural commissioner, will be there. She is a good listener, provided the arguments are cogent and the case for action well founded. That meeting, I suspect, might well provide the catalyst for the return to some sort of linkage between support and production.
If livestock farmers wish to reduce or disperse their herds and flocks, it is wrong that they should continue to receive the same level of support. If a commercial decision is made to exit the livestock industry, then the support involved should go into a pool to be divided among those who wish to remain in the business.
