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Saturday 4 February 2012
THOUGH WE might yet see a sting in the tail of winter before spring arrives in the UK – some snow is forecast as I write this – global weather conditions continue to give cause for concern in Argentina
THIS PAST week has produced some severe storms and the first fall of snow in the Borders where we had three inches overnight – it melted within 24 hours but was a reminder of what last winter was all about.
IT’S BEEN a struggle for many because of the weather, but potato lifting is now complete in most areas – 97% has now lifted in the UK, compared to 90% at this time last year.
AS OCTOBER heads to a close, the general position is that potato lifting and winter wheat sowing are also getting closer to being completed – but that said, there are still a few worrying pockets of the harvest to mop up, most notably in some parts of Lanarkshire.
CROPS STILL left to harvest are beginning to experience serious quality issues because of continuing wet weather.
AFTER NINE dry days at the end of September in the Borders, 16mm or ¾ of an inch of rain fell last weekend in the first two days of October to undo the good that had been done by the dry spell last week.
Harvest continues to drag on slowly, especially north of the Forth where there is still approximately 25% of the spring barley and in some cases more than half of the wheat to cut.
IT HAS again been a week of dodging showers and a continuation of August’s rainfall figures, explaining why in the Borders we had 152mm, or 6 inches, to give a total so far of 525mm or 21 inches, against last year’s comparative figures of 27mm or 1 inch for the month, and 491mm, or 20 inches for the year.
THE WET weather since the beginning of the month has caused some crops to go flat in some areas of Scotland and that is a rare sight in recent years.
HEAVY RAIN has hit the harvest and there was some really hazardous amounts causing damage in parts of the North and North-east this week.
Will Defra fight for Scotland in the CAP reform negotiation?
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Will Defra fight for Scotland in the CAP reform negotiation?
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