FARM DIARY BY REG HAYDON

SO far we have been relatively lucky in West Sussex and the major storms have missed the South East but despite June being the wettest month since 1913, July so far has been worse.

Some combining has been done in the brief periods of fine weather, mainly on oilseed rape and winter barley, but the livestock farmers are in trouble.

Thousands of acres of grass which should have been cut in June for silage and hay is still lying flattened in the fields and, in many cases, under water.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At Arundel, ground conditions got so bad that our dairy herd had to come back in under cover at nights and are being fed on full winter rations, an almost unheard of situation at this time of the year.

We managed to complete silage-making on the downland, with the work being done by contractors but, in the river meadows in the Arun Valley, we are left with more than 200 acres of horizontal grass which will need a week to dry out.

Even if we manage to bale it, will only produce a lot of poor quality fodder this winter.

However, as you will have seen on the television, from Berkshire upwards, there have been huge losses from flooding with many cereal, grass, ground fruit and potato crops ruined and much damage caused to both the towns and countryside.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette, July 25