Farmers pray for rain as dry spell affects crops

Many people will have been enjoying the sun over recent days but farmers have said the dry weather is affecting their crops.

The lack of recent rainfall has meant some crops are not sprouting in drier ground and there is no forecasted rain in some areas for several days.

For Colin Rayner, from Stubbings Farm in Maidenhead, spring barley planted weeks ago has "hardly germinated", which has left him hoping for rain at the weekend.

An expert from the University of Reading said the seasonal weather patterns on which farmers rely "have clearly changed a lot" over recent years.

"We had a very wet winter," Mr Rayner told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"I think we had 90 days of rain virtually from November to the end of February.

"At the end of February, it decided to stop raining.

"The ground's dried out very quickly. We have had cold temperatures but then very hot lunchtimes."

He added: "In the morning, I've got two jumpers on and by lunchtime I've got my shorts and a T-shirt on. By 15:00 I've got my jumper back on again."

"I'm now 67. I have been farming since I was 17 and I can tell you, the weather has changed dramatically in that time.

"We seem to get periods of extreme wet and we seem to get periods of extreme hot and dry."

The current dry spell is an unwelcome contrast to last autumn, when Berkshire farmers were unable to plant crops because of heavy rain waterlogging some fields.

George Brown said he has faced similar issues, with the main concern being spring barley on his farm in Newbury.

"A lot of the crops, which were planted early, most of it's coming through.

"But we've got large chunks – especially on top of the hills – where it's absolutely barren still, waiting in rows to germinate."

Dr Paola Tosi, from the University of Reading, said: "Agriculture really depends on seasonal weather patterns and those have clearly changed a lot so it's very difficult for farmers to decide what to drill, where to plant their crops.

"At the same time, the mid-range forecast is getting better so farmers can adjust."

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