Drought

[Hjcarter]

Severn Trent are pumping water from aquifers into the river to keep the levels up!!

 

[JeremyD]

Wasn’t that the year all the spud men had new P plate cars or something

Yes P for Potato!

 

[Kidds]

1976 was marked by a period of two weeks of excessive heat from late July with temps over 32. Thats not on the cards I dont think

How hot do you want it? This is the forecast for my postcode

 

[teslacoils]

1976 has two weeks over 30 degrees. Tbh sounds nice. Unless shovelling barley out of bins. Or stacking conventional bales.

 

[had e nuff]

The sh.tty cold and wet dark days will be here soon enough. Enjoy the summer sun and heat while it lasts. Perfect pub garden beer supping weather

 

[Vader]

Red hot.
Bone dry crops.
Garden backing onto the field has a garden fire and its windy....

 

[thorpe]

1976 has two weeks over 30 degrees. Tbh sounds nice. Unless shovelling barley out of bins. Or stacking conventional bales.

it was horrible!

 

[Northernlights]

Yep: both 1975 and 76 were drought years and the potato growers were buying new tractors cars and combines and anything else they wanted brand new, especially so in 1976.

I was at Harper Adams in those years and there was new ‘P’ and ‘R’ registered stuff all over the place in those two years. The Massey 500 series tractors were selling like hot cakes, as was stuff like the IH Worldwide series 574 and 674, and Ford 6600 and 7700: nearly all two wheel drive at that time though!

We grew a couple of acres of spuds at home and I remember delivering 56lb bags (25kg) door to door for £5 a bag forty six years ago. This was £200/ tonne which I guess would equate to about £1500 to £2,000 a tonne at today’s values?

After that most growers put in irrigation systems and we have never really seen years like those since. Will we ever again? Most would say not, but if water reserves are going to be lowering as an annual trend then irrigation might not be so readily available?

I finished Agri college in 75 and a friend from those days paid cash for the neighbouring farm from the proceeds of 60 acres of tatties.In my own small way I did a mile of new fencing,bought a new tractor loader and fitted a new safety cab onto an older tractor with the proceeds of 2acres of tatties

 

[puppet]

Just had a shower of rain here while getting the last hay bales in.
Just thought I would let you know.

 

[puppet]

Yep: both 1975 and 76 were drought years and the potato growers were buying new tractors cars and combines and anything else they wanted brand new, especially so in 1976.


We grew a couple of acres of spuds at home and I remember delivering 56lb bags (25kg) door to door for £5 a bag forty six years ago. This was £200/ tonne which I guess would equate to about £1500 to £2,000 a tonne at today’s values?

Never mind tractors, a friend of mine's tatties bought a Lotus....at age 21.

 

[DRC]

Water problems in our village this past week, with low pressure and long periods without any at all.
Severn Trent very slow to do anything and it’s taken media interest and our MO to shake them up.
livestock farmer neighbours at their whits end , with no water for stock, including pigs.

 

[Secret Agronomist]

Wasn’t that the year all the spud men had new P plate cars or something

I think Bossfarmer thinks we are all going to be doing the same this year.

 

[Hindsight]

As I was -3 years old in 1976, Im comparing it to 1995 which I was alive in. 1976 was a metreological drought ie hot and dry over a fairly short time vs hydrological drought with a long run low rainfall. Id say we may get both. Weve had 62mm since 1st Feb, and unlikely to see any real rain (unless we get a bit of storm after the peak heat next week) until August. After a fairly dry winter. 62mm in 6 months is very dry.

Reservoir levels in areas of the UK are well below 1995 levels for the same months. 1976 was marked by a period of two weeks of excessive heat from late July with temps over 32. Thats not on the cards I dont think, however, two more weeks of dry here, followed by a settled August will really begin to bite. My lawn has been pretty much yellow since the child last mowed it in mid June.

1976 followed the below average rainfall year of 1975. I did my O levels in 1976. Then watched the Test cricket on BBC2. The fantastic West Indies team. Goodness what days. Stand pipes as well in 76.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indian_cricket_team_in_England_in_1976

1995 was in a run of dry years - 1994 and 1996 were if I recall below average rainfall - do check data to test y memory. Potato prices were high for the 1994 and 1995 crops.

2011 was also dry spring summer.

 

[Hindsight]

I think Bossfarmer thinks we are all going to be doing the same this year.

No supermarket retailers then. Nor processors really save some crisps. Pretty much all into paper bags and into the wholesale markets. True free market economics.

 

[glasshouse]

1976 followed the below average rainfall year of 1975. I did my O levels in 1976. Then watched the Test cricket on BBC2. The fantastic West Indies team. Goodness what days. Stand pipes as well in 76.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indian_cricket_team_in_England_in_1976

1995 was in a run of dry years - 1994 and 1996 were if I recall below average rainfall - do check data to test y memory. Potato prices were high for the 1994 and 1995 crops.

2011 was also dry spring summer.

The drains never ran on my place from 94-96
Then from 97 they never stopped for 6 yrs

 

[7610 super q]

Nasty outbreak of proper farming on this thread.... plant a few acres of crops.........buy some new tractors. Halcyon days.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Rained here this morning, just a shower and we had steady rain for 60-90 mins on Tuesday - but go 10 miles and nothing, very catchy

 

[Wombat]

Rained here this morning, just a shower and we had steady rain for 60-90 mins on Tuesday - but go 10 miles and nothing, very catchy

5min shower Tuesday and 15mins today. Not even fully wetted the concrete really

 

[teslacoils]

Still dry. Nothing forecast apart from potential shower after the heat. Two days expected to see 35 now on the BBC and being revised upwards.

 

[Bossfarmer]

I think Bossfarmer thinks we are all going to be doing the same this year.

I am aware of growers over 1000 acre buying farms off the back of the 2018 drought