The unthinkable.

[Kevtherev]

So, what happens if we don't get any rain in July / August either ?
In 1976 the water board cut off the supply for a few hours a day to conserve supplies. Dad had to fill churns when it was on to tip into cattle troughs later on. How will 2000 cow herds fair with this palaver ....the more switched on will presumably have their own borehole supply ?
Fodder ? Second and third cut won't be up to much. Plenty of 2 acre paddocks been baled with small bales though.. Baling and wrapping grass in October/ November might save the day ?
Folks start flogging cattle, will that depress markets ?
Shortage of spuds / veg ? Unlikely, everyone's got irrigation these days haven't they ?. Will it keep up with evaporation in this heat though ?

Just a few thoughts, no need to get upity, and accuse me of scaremongering / jealousy / not been progressive / trolling / rose tinted glasses / schadenfreude / etc, etc.

I’m buying your boat to harvest seawater

 

[Chae1]

So, what happens if we don't get any rain in July / August either ?
In 1976 the water board cut off the supply for a few hours a day to conserve supplies. Dad had to fill churns when it was on to tip into cattle troughs later on. How will 2000 cow herds fair with this palaver ....the more switched on will presumably have their own borehole supply ?
Fodder ? Second and third cut won't be up to much. Plenty of 2 acre paddocks been baled with small bales though.. Baling and wrapping grass in October/ November might save the day ?
Folks start flogging cattle, will that depress markets ?
Shortage of spuds / veg ? Unlikely, everyone's got irrigation these days haven't they ?. Will it keep up with evaporation in this heat though ?

Just a few thoughts, no need to get upity, and accuse me of scaremongering / jealousy / not been progressive / trolling / rose tinted glasses / schadenfreude / etc, etc.

I'd say your being realistic. We need to prepare for such a scenario.

 

[davieh3350]

So if it doesn't rain for a couple of months, the crops are what they are nothing we can do there.

Harvest will be easy, bit like the Spanish it will be completely chilled out as we now it will be 25 deg tomorrow and the day after etc so why rush it, freak out about breakdowns etc

I can get on and do all the jobs you cannot when it's wet and sh!t and cold. Drainage, hedges, fencing etc

Cows will be fine, even if we have to let them onto some margins etc as we are not that heavily stocked.

You can sit out on an evening and enjoy the weather, hopefully we can watch the concerts we are going to in July without being in a quagmire.

It will be cold wet and crap from Oct to April so make the most of it.

Ehhh.. It could continue coming in from the east. It might be a dry, cold and hard winter. No mud!

One can only dream

 

[Tha Ulsterscot]

If we could control the WEATHER, there would be some arguments then.

 

[Wombat]

Ehhh.. It could continue coming in from the east. It might be a dry, cold and hard winter. No mud!

One can only dream

Would be the first in years if it did

 

[Henarar]

If we could control the WEATHER, there would be some arguments then.

no there wouldn't, just order the weather you want for each field each day

 

[Farmer Roy]

Not meaning to be funny but are the white ones not more reflective than the black? Our fellow has not been put off his stroke at all or so they tell me.

But fully agree with access to shade

Err, whitefaced cattle here are much more prone to pink eye, eye cancers etc, due to sun / uv etc

 

[Al R]

If we could control the WEATHER, there would be some arguments then.

Growing up I’m sure I remember hearing they were doing trials where they sent planes out into the Atlantic and they could get rain to form in the clouds? Or was that just F&M?

 

[Farmer Roy]

cloud seeding has been around for a long time
the yanks do it a lot
here, Snowy Hydro do it as well at times

the trouble is, you still need clouds / moisture to start with . . .

 

[Al R]

cloud seeding has been around for a long time
the yanks do it a lot
here, Snowy Hydro do it as well at times

the trouble is, you still need clouds / moisture to start with . . .

We’ve had plenty of clouds, the sky tonight was half clouds...

 

[glasshouse]

The sky at sunset this past week has been glorious red orange like a huge fire.

 

[Al R]

The sky at sunset this past week has been glorious red orange like a huge fire.

Live by Manchester do you?

 

[DeeGee]

The sky at sunset this past week has been glorious red orange like a huge fire.

You should have been a poet Glasshouse: and then you saw a glorious field of waving dancing daffodils bowing and nodding gaily in the breeze.......or whatever it was Wayne Wordsworth said whilst projecting idle saliva from his perch upon an wall onto a concrete path just outside Bramall Lane.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Loving the sun. Loving the heat. Yes we're burning, yes the grass could do with rain, but by God;, stock are loving this and are doing great.

Makes me feel sorry for all the poor animals that were born in the raindrenched, wet years and that never really felt proper sun on their backs.

 

[CharcoalWally]

The sky at sunset this past week has been glorious red orange like a huge fire.

The sunsets here on the West have been spectacular going down behind the islands.

The water's dead calm and sparkles with the sunlight, and then the sea and the sky turn into an enormous cauldron of colour from which the afterglow lasts for ages in the Summer night .

 

[glasshouse]

Nothing like watching that sun go down as you pop out another crispy dry bale of green hay.
last yr in the same field i couldnt bale large areas due to standing water.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Nothing like watching that sun go down as you pop out another crispy dry bale of green hay.
last yr in the same field i couldnt bale large areas due to standing water.

Aye, the two Summers couldn't be more opposite if they tried .

 

[DeeGee]

Must admit that it is good to be able to relax when cutting grass for hay or
haylage knowing that rain is nowhere near.

On the other hand spring barley is starting to suffer and there is no re growth after cutting grass for hay and haylage.

No doubt we will get growth in September for a late cut, but it’s hard now to watch grassland burning up and no regrowth starting for another cut.

 

[kiwi pom]

If you get no rain until Oct/Nov will it be that bad? You know its going to rain before long so just a question of riding it out.
I've not heard of anyone talking about completely destocking or switching to once a day milking or drying cows off. Even if arable farmers don't get an autumn crop in there's still the spring.
Just enjoy it the rain will be back before long.

 

[Scholsey]

If you get no rain until Oct/Nov will it be that bad? You know its going to rain before long so just a question of riding it out.
I've not heard of anyone talking about completely destocking or switching to once a day milking or drying cows off. Even if arable farmers don't get an autumn crop in there's still the spring.
Just enjoy it the rain will be back before long.

Yes! It would be that bad