Rain Rain and more Rain

Gazza

Well-Known Member
I look after a mate's 600 acre beef/sheep farm whilst he is on holiday. This week I have been up a few times just to get to grips with what has to be done after he leaves on Friday 29th. Over the last few years I have done this I have noticed the effects of the wetter climate (especially Scotland) we now live in. He used to grow both winter and spring cereals but now only spring barley mainly because the ground is so wet he cannot get it ploughed after harvest to get planting. Silage is normally in by his holiday time but there are fields still to be cut and there is a field with cut grass which is very wet and no doubt putting tractors in to lift the grass would have problems of cutting up the field and probably getting stuck. Wet silage creates more effluent which is not easy to dump without it seeping into waterways. Sheep are still to be clipped but with the almost constant rain their fleeces are never dry enough. Kale planting this year is very doubtful as the ground is just to wet to plough. Pasture grass is not as good as it should be resulting in poor milk to feed calves. The farm next door grows spring barley but I noticed it is quite yellowish probably due to wet and lack of heat.
Is this wet weather effecting your game shooting preparations . The place I buy my poults from is behind as he cannot get poults out to grass to harden off, game crops don't look as good as they should, work on new pens and other projects has been slow and I have not seen any wild chicks as yet, presumably washed out.
 
I look after a mate's 600 acre beef/sheep farm whilst he is on holiday. This week I have been up a few times just to get to grips with what has to be done after he leaves on Friday 29th. Over the last few years I have done this I have noticed the effects of the wetter climate (especially Scotland) we now live in. He used to grow both winter and spring cereals but now only spring barley mainly because the ground is so wet he cannot get it ploughed after harvest to get planting. Silage is normally in by his holiday time but there are fields still to be cut and there is a field with cut grass which is very wet and no doubt putting tractors in to lift the grass would have problems of cutting up the field and probably getting stuck. Wet silage creates more effluent which is not easy to dump without it seeping into waterways. Sheep are still to be clipped but with the almost constant rain their fleeces are never dry enough. Kale planting this year is very doubtful as the ground is just to wet to plough. Pasture grass is not as good as it should be resulting in poor milk to feed calves. The farm next door grows spring barley but I noticed it is quite yellowish probably due to wet and lack of heat.
Is this wet weather effecting your game shooting preparations . The place I buy my poults from is behind as he cannot get poults out to grass to harden off, game crops don't look as good as they should, work on new pens and other projects has been slow and I have not seen any wild chicks as yet, presumably washed out.

Same here. Everything is soaking... everywhere. Only the young trees seem to be doing anything like well... and i expect some unwelcome mildew, shortly, even with them.

Following on from another thread, I wonder if we should look into importing waterbucks, with a view to getting their waterproofing capabilities, genetically engineered into our own animals. :D

He said, as he quickly waded to safety.
 
What we need are Chinese Water Deer, they should be well suited to the present climatic conditions.

Are am very pessimistic about the wild game, we had a good stock of wild grey partridge this spring so I am hoping they might produce the goods, they have normally reared some decent coveys even in terrible summers like we have now, whereas the Pheasants and Redlegs I expect to be a disaster.
 
wild pheasnts are ok here but not so many ducklings?
young deer doing well as the grass cant be cut, so some benifit.
wheat looks well, barley suffering now and laaying as its tall. rape got massive this year and is laying over.
Potoato growers normally have water cannons going but there are non out.
Peas were late in but look ok, and game crops, most have still to plant theirs.
Luckily most of mine are perenials and look very well canary grass now 5ft and chicory 4ft.
Stalking getting effected now as margins grown up and no grass cut so difficult to locate the bucks and then hard to cover ground without getting wet through.
More rain forcast this week and had thunder storms today.
 
We shorn 10,000 and have another 16 to do, its never been as bad as this in all the years ive been shearing,will still have hoggets to shear in july which is pretty much unheard of down here in the borders....

Silage contractors are in the same boat,with the size of kit they use now will spend more time pulling each other out, plus mud= listeria
 
Terrible down here, currently the somerset levels are still flooded, the maize looks more like rice as it pokes through the water. Thousands of acres of first cut grass to be mown, deer almost invisible.

I am farm sitting soon, dairy farm still has cattle in as ground so wet and cutting up very badly. Maize looks weeks behind due to lack of sun. OSR looks soo tall could be a huge crop, barley starting to turn and is standing up reasonbly well considering the rain and wind. Wheat debatable. We shot quite a lot of foxes when they cut some grass last month, now all but impossible to get out. Some silage cut 2 weeks ago, apparently spent more time pulling out mud bound rigs that making silage, fields left in terrible state.

Current view is we need 7-10 days unbroken sun to dry out ground before they attempt to try and do the second cut. We don't need any rain till Oct.

As for CWD, looks at present that the levels would be the ideal enviroment!!

D
 
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