LOWER than average rainfall added to hotter than normal temperatures could mean dale farmers face fresh financial challenges with the demand for feed and bedding expected to rise dramatically.
A long cold and wet winter and spring put extra reliance on bedding and feed and now the prolonged dry spell is worrying many farmers who say the demand for good quality straw and hay will be at a premium this winter.
Christopher Holmes, of Hetherick Grange Farm, Marwood, said: “We’ve gone from one extreme to the other – a long, wet winter to a really dry summer.
“It’s getting to get to a point now where we are about to start putting feed out as the grass just isn’t growing, it’s actually starting to burn and turn brown.
“I think the government needs to step in and do a little, they’re very quick to send money abroad when there is a drought.
“I did manage to get a first crop of hay in, but I don’t know if I’ll get a second. The quantity is well down and I have heard horror stories from others that they’ve only got half what they normally get. Prices are going to be extortionate.”
Eggleston farmer Marcus Bainbridge reports the streams which irrigate his land have all but dried up as has the mains water supply to his home.
Mr Bainbridge said: “Our problem is we are just below the height of Northumbria Water’s reservoir and when the surrounding area water their gardens too much, or have baths and showers our mains water stops flowing. We do have a storage tank in the attic, but sometimes it is just not enough.”
He added the long wet winter followed by the recent hot and dry weather has left them on a “knife edge” .
He said although they had managed to get a “decent” crop of silage, they were unable to fertilise sufficiently as there was no rain.
“We’re going to be breaking into our winter feed. The grass just isn’t growing and it has a knock on effect,” he said.
“The prices for hay, straw and general fodder are going to be significantly more expensive. We’re already seeing the price of wheat starting to rise as well,” said Mr Bainbridge.
Peter Waistell agent and group secretary of Barnard Castle NFU (National Farmers Union) said: “Most farmers were able to get their first cut mid-May, but now if there is no rain it’s going to be a problem for a second cut.
“After the prolonged wet winter we had this dry spell and a number of farmers have been able to make hay early.
“But now they would be looking for their second cut for winter feed.
“To grow good grass you need water and sun and although we’ve had plenty of the latter we do need rain to replenish the grass.”
He added: “No one wants to see brown fields and we get that because the weather, which is normally temperate is intemperate at the moment.
“Over the past few years our summers have consisted of four or five days of good weather and we haven’t really had this sort of dry weather since the summer of 1976. What we could do with is a nice steady drizzle.”
The NFU has already reopened its Fodder Bank.
The free service allows members to find cattle feed and animal bedding for their farms and lets them sell any surplus.
Redworth farmer Julie Pennell said: “We have just started to get our hay in.
“The quality is good but there isn’t the quantity. We are starting to use our winter supplies.”
She added that even if rain came now it would not be enough to ensure a second cut. She expected feed prices to rise.
She worried that some farmers, who would usually sell their excess hay would lose that additional income.
Forest-in-Teesdale farmer Alison Eccles added: “We’re desperate for rain. We are starting to get concerned.
“The becks up here are getting dry and there is no grass. It’s a worry if it continues as we may have to carry additional feed.
“There is hardly any grass growing. We have done a cut, but we have a much lower quantity, not many bales.”
She added: “In all our years here, we can’t remember it being this dry and if we’re seeing it bad up here, I can’t imagine what it’s like lower down.”
One dale dairy farmer said the quality of grass produced has been directly affected by the lack of rain.
The quality of grass is not as high as it should be and he is now worried the lack of rain will affect his ability to get a second cut before the summer is out meaning he will be more reliant on grain, an additional financial strain.
The average rainfall for June and July is usually about 2.5 inches, but there has not been any measurable rainfall since June 24 according to the Met office’s manned observation station at Copley.
