Suffolk farmer says bad weather's negatively impacting crops
A yellow weather warning's in place across Suffolk today
Last updated 2nd Aug 2023
A farmer in Suffolk tells us today's Met Office yellow weather warning across the East will negatively impact their crops.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop today and may cause some flooding and travel disruption.
This local farmer told us how the recent wet weather has delayed harvest: "This time last year we would have already been at least two weeks into our harvest.
"This year, we haven't even looked to check the moisture of our wheat because they're just not ready and you know they'll be too wet.
"Now we're at the point where we're considering whether we'll have to harvest them wet."
They told us more about the knock-on effects of harvesting later: "If we harvest our wheat late, we also grow rape, which we're then drilling in summer.
"There's a huge problem with flea beetles decimating rape crops, so the later we're drilling it, the more at risk our crop is for failing."
They also say the poor weather leads to increased costs: "We could run a dryer to dry out our wheat, as there's only a certain amount of moisture a buyer will accept...
"But then you have to consider the running costs, it's extra hours for those working on the farms and it's a lot of energy to use to run the dryer."
The farmer also told us the wet weather could make crops more susceptible to diseases: "It's been shown in scientific research that plants in damp and wet conditions will suppress their uptake of things like nitrogen, meaning our crop yields will be reduced as the plants favour their immune responses over growth."