Farmers say 'damage is already done' despite hopes for much-needed rain

Berkshire farmers have warned the ‘damage is already done’ for their crops as the prolonged dry spring weather looks set to make way for rain next week.

Earlier this month, the Met Office said this spring could rank as the driest the UK has seen in over a century – but weather forecasters have said rain is set to arrive just in time for the half-term break.

While the spring sunshine has been good news for many, the continued dry weather has left farmers across the Berkshire area worried about their crops this growing season.  

Colin Rayner, director at Berkyn Manor Farm in Horton, said: “The crops we’ve planted this year have germinated [the plant has grown from the seed], but have not had enough moisture [from rain] to take up the fertiliser. 

“[They are] looking in poor condition and some crops, like the maize crops haven’t germinated at all because the seed beds were too dry.

“It will get to harvest, but the yields will be 30-40 per cent down and the money we spent on fertiliser has been wasted because it hasn’t been taken up." 

He added: “We seem to have extreme weather – we have it very dry, very wet, very warm, very cold."

He believes that the impact will lead to shortages in barley for the beer market and bread wheat.  

Mr Rayner added the forthcoming rain is ‘too late’ for the majority of the crops but said it will help the maize and is needed for fodder beet, wildflowers and sunflowers. 

James Copas, a partner at Copas Farms, expressed similar worries, stating that his maize crop has not germinated due to a lack of moisture.  

He said: “That’s a real worry. So that’s been in the ground for three weeks now and it’s just sat there basically, it hasn’t done anything. 

“We need the rain to get it to germinate to start off with. [It’s] the same with our hay crops as well, we’ll probably be around 40 per cent down on hay yield. 

“We put the fertiliser on, but it hasn’t been taken up by the plant because there’s been no moisture there to take it up.” 

Mr Copas said the impact of the weather will see a shortage in animal feed this year, but said it is ‘early days’ to know what will happen with regards to grain.  

He hopes the rain will help with growth, but added some damage and yield loss has already occurred. 

Farmer William Emmett, owner of Hornbuckle Farm, in Drift Road, said there has been ‘no significant rain’ in this part of the Thames Valley since the end of February.  

“Crops growing on light sandy soils and gravels are very, very badly stressed," he said.

Mr Emmett explained that the weather will have ‘severely damaged’ the yield potential of the crops.   

He added that the quality will ‘probably be ok with sunlight’, but due to the low moisture the yield will be ‘very poor’.  

“Some people have planted more crops this spring because of the wet winter and wet autumn, and of course those crops are struggling as well.  

“Equally, grassland is also impacted by the hot, dry weather and the volume of hay could be quite significantly down.” 

He added: “There’s not any significant rainfall coming.  

“There's some rain coming. I would say on some soils, the damage is already done.”