Farmers' crops struggling through lack of sunshine

8:14am Wednesday 11th July 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

FARMERS in our region are praying for a change in the weather, as fruit and vegetables struggle to grow in waterlogged fields and with a lack of sunshine.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) says the unseasonably wet and dull weather has affected almost every crop in Yorkshire, from potatoes to strawberries.

Rachel Gillbanks, NFU regional representative, said: “What is unique this year is that it’s not just one crop – it’s across the board.

“One strawberry grower I spoke to near York said he had lost 80 per cent of his crop. We just aren’t getting the sunlight.

“Light levels in June were comparable to what we would expect in January. Even in polytunnels things just aren’t growing.”

“We have crops that are just way, way behind.”

Miss Gillbanks said that although cereal harvests were some way off, the weeks of torrential rain and lack of sunshine was also expected to affect yields. She said: “I think the people who are finding it really hard are the vegetable growers.”

Owen Pearson, who grows seed potatoes on his farm at Huggate, said: “The worst thing is that the soil is saturated and, as with most plants, potatoes don’t grow very well in saturated soil. It’s been a cold spring and things are a long way behind.”

Related links

He said farmers throughout the region were “praying” for two or three days of continuous sun and no rain. “It needs three days of sun for all this rain to sink in,” he said.

However, weather forecasts appear to offer no sign of respite for farmers, with heavy rain, showers and grey skies predicted for the rest of the week and into the weekend.

Comments(11)

smudge1 says...
8:37am Wed 11 Jul 12

Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo
aning !!!

Report this post »

CHISSY1 says...
9:31am Wed 11 Jul 12

smudge1 wrote:
Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo

aning !!!
What a totally stupid comment,you know nothing about farming.Long hours,hard work only to be wiped out by the weather.Then who would moan when the shelves are empty of veg.

Report this post »

jadestars says...
9:50am Wed 11 Jul 12

smudge1 wrote:
Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo aning !!!
pointless unneccesary comment ... a prime example of stupid!

Report this post »

smudge1 says...
10:16am Wed 11 Jul 12

CHISSY1 wrote:
smudge1 wrote: Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo aning !!!
What a totally stupid comment,you know nothing about farming.Long hours,hard work only to be wiped out by the weather.Then who would moan when the shelves are empty of veg.
Two bites at this time of the morning...Very predictable Well risen Chissy and jadestars..

Report this post »

CHISSY1 says...
10:18am Wed 11 Jul 12

smudge1 wrote:
CHISSY1 wrote:
smudge1 wrote: Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo aning !!!
What a totally stupid comment,you know nothing about farming.Long hours,hard work only to be wiped out by the weather.Then who would moan when the shelves are empty of veg.
Two bites at this time of the morning...Very predictable Well risen Chissy and jadestars..
What a sad person,you want to get out more.

Report this post »

sheps lad says...
12:01pm Wed 11 Jul 12

smudge1 wrote:
CHISSY1 wrote:
smudge1 wrote: Never seen a happy farmer ever.They are always like taxi drivers...........Mo aning !!!
What a totally stupid comment,you know nothing about farming.Long hours,hard work only to be wiped out by the weather.Then who would moan when the shelves are empty of veg.
Two bites at this time of the morning...Very predictable Well risen Chissy and jadestars..
Are you sure you're not the pedalling p*llock?

Report this post »

MrsHoney says...
12:06pm Wed 11 Jul 12

If the rain and lack of light doesn't cause a problem the slugs will. They've been terrible this year. Last year it was the bad Winter, the year before droughts........

Report this post »

York1900 says...
12:16pm Wed 11 Jul 12

well end of this year and next year we will be in fore some nice food price hikes but it will not be the farmers making the money from it
It will be some banks trader and supermarkets making the profits .

.

Report this post »

Buzz Light-year says...
12:26pm Wed 11 Jul 12

Yep this will mean food will be costing us more soon.
Life really isn't getting any easier is it?

Report this post »

MrsHoney says...
9:12am Thu 12 Jul 12

I do feel sorry for farmers at the moment. I'm sure most people wouldn't mind paying a little bit more for their milk, it's the supermarkets driving down the price. Fruit and veg already cost alot but this year it will be even worse, it's no wonder people eat unhealthily when you can buy a packet of muffins for a pound but a cauli costs more than that. Not sure what the answer is in these dire economic times.

Report this post »

Magicman! says...
3:09am Sat 14 Jul 12

The supermarkets have bene using the Recession as an excuse to drive up prices, with no actual increase being passed on to the suppliers. It's a double whammy attack, as food prices go up and package volume goes down (with ASDA being the main culprit in this). The answer to this is to cut the profit margins, to just go for decent profits instead of overinflated profits...

... oh well, we can but dream eh?!

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree