Autumn has arrived bringing shorter days and longer nights,  but very little rain in the area.   Seed beds are dry and there is poor germination.   Oil seed rape is already desperate and some farmers are having trouble with blue mould on early drilled wheat.   It is difficult to lift sugar beet out of the ground, and potatoes are being bruised because there is no moisture in the soil.   Grass for livestock is running out which means farmers are having to use their winter stocks in order to give them supplementary feed.

The Photograph above shows farmers wife Marie Dorey exercising Lollipop a pony owned by her daughters Stephanie and Rebekah, and the picture on the right shows her husband Steve feeding some of his beef heard   

October 24th 2003