Wisbech farmer determined to battle on as weather plays havoc with harvest
A mixture of wet and warmer weather has been affecting harvest season
Last updated 7th Aug 2023
A farmer near Wisbech said he will carry on as usual despite the mixed weather affecting harvest this summer.
Farming experts have warned European cereal harvest this year is planned to be its lowest since 2007, 9.5% lower than the five-year average.
that this year's heatwaves in parts of Europe could affect the quality of crops, while wet conditions are also playing a part.
Paul Day runs Bramblebee Farms in Emneth and is already feeling the impact the weather has had:
“When do we cut our hay? There’s rain on the forecast and there’s two of us on the farm, so it’s going to be a really hectic time,” he said.
“We had a horrible Spring so our spring crop yields are massively low because it was dry for such a long time, although if it hadn’t had rained, we perhaps wouldn’t have got a crop.”
Paul, with help from his son Burt, aim to use regenerative methods in farming such as not including fertiliser or other chemicals in its produce.
And as well as having livestock on the farm including cattle and chickens, wheat and barley is grown which is also used for animal feed.
"We've just got to be patient"
This year, the government found wheat and barley crops in the eastern region make up more than half of this crop type in England.
But despite facing a busy time ahead for harvest, Paul remains calm.
“Could we have another six weeks of this weather? If that happens, the worry for us is we can't dry our grain. We get it in and its damp. As for weather and farming, things seem to come right eventually; we’ve just got to be patient.
“Is it climate change? Next year could be wetter, warmer, windier, drier. I think for us, we’ll just carry on as we are now.”