Farmers, unlike many other businesses, are so dependent on the weather. Unfortunately, the incessant rain and serious lack of ‘dry’ days is making for a very difficult early grazing period in even the drier parts of the country.

In the same way, yield and crop options for tillage farmers are now limited at best. Some tillage farmers on very dry land managed to get nitrogen out on a dry day last week.

If it was any other business sector there would be politicians taking photos with the locals to oversee the impacts with the offer of compensation.

Difference

The difference with farming is that farmers can’t just walk away and close up shop. They are obliged to keep animals fed.

They want to nurture crops in the ground to be productive and earn a livelihood. In the main they are sole traders. A fall-back option simply doesn’t exist.

Farmers are used to a certain amount of hardship – it’s almost part of the business. They are hardened and toughened by years of changing and difficult weather.

It’s why the window for machinery on land is getting shorter and shorter and farmers have to invest themselves in buying machinery, even though on many farms, it means excessively longer hours and no break during very busy spring periods.

While it is only mid-March and the days are getting longer, the additional cost farmers are taking on needs to be recognised.

There is an urgent need for an independent rolling survey of farm input usage for the typical farm in all sectors. it could track feed stocks, cost of production etc.