Weathering the heatwave

Well readers, the recent spell of dry and sunny weather brought good and bad times. Lovely to see the sun shining and the dry days giving farmers and contractors the chance to get the harvest in. But the prolonged nature of it, the intensity of the heat, the drought conditions, and the many wildfires that have been burning in some of the most beautiful parts of the country have given us all some food for thought. As I look around the yard and the garden, hedges are looking limp, grass is burnt, and there is dust everywhere. But as I pen this month’s column, temperatures have dropped and there is a feel of rain in the air. We now need a change in weather fortunes. We need rainfall; not too much, but enough to bring on grass growth. Opening pits of silage this early in the year will bring untold costs as we head into possibly a long damp winter. Farmers have enough to contend with as it is.
I actually can’t remember a time when winter crops were harvested so early. Usually, from around July 15 to the end of that month is the key time for all that work to take place – depending, of course, on where you are located in the country. The first picture I got of this year’s harvest was from Brian Ireland who was cutting a crop of Orcade winter barley on the farm of Aidan Ging in Danesford, Co. Kilkenny (incidentally, that is this month’s cover image). The crop was cut on July 1-2, yielding
4t/acre with 18 per cent moisture content. This tonnage per acre was a bit higher than average with most crops coming in at 3-3.5t/acre. The way things sit at the moment, farmers will have plenty of time on their hands come September, so there will be ample opportunity to visit the National Ploughing Championships in September. One farmer told me he is planning a two-day visit to this year’s event. “We won’t be under pressure, so we might as well take an extra day,“ he said, laughing. Hopefully many more farmers will take a leaf out of his book and enjoy some deserved downtime in Tullamore.
Now, I don’t follow soccer so the whole World Cup thing went over my head, but I read that  Erling Haaland, the Manchester City and Norwegian star – or God, as some people call him – has already revealed plans for life after football. The 25-year-old who has previously hailed milk as a ‘superfood’ said he wants to own his own farm eventually when he hangs up his boots. He spent his teenage years around farming and he loves the lifestyle, apparently. I think I like this guy. He is grounded.
And finally, some machinery industry news. I learned, with interest, that after 80 years, the Czech Republic’s Zetor is to move production to Asia. High and rising costs are attributed to the decision to relocate with production set to be carried out in both India – where it has an existing partnership and where most of its tractors have been manufactured in recent times – and in China, once a new partnership is established.
I wonder if others will follow suit? Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing is for sure, the cost of machinery production goes onto the price of the finished product, and that means the farmer, ultimately, pays. Or in other words, the cow or the crop pays, and with the current prices being paid to farmers for commodities in Europe, that is one thorny subject.
Signing off for now but until next month, farm wisely and farm safely.