The recent rains although brief have been very welcome. On our relatively light land crops had begun to suffer from lack of moisture and although we can irrigate most fields areas that missed that irrigation were starting to show real signs of moisture stress- hopefully we will now have regular rainfall to start making up the soil moisture deficit and crops will reach their full potential.

There is continuing talk about price inflation across the whole economy and retail inflation at about 9% is extremely concerning. However various independent agricultural bodies are estimating that inflation in our sector is closer to 25% which will put huge pressure on all our members. I bought nitrogen fertiliser for this harvest at £280/ T but for 2023 I have already bought some at £900/T and I imagine the bulk will be at about £750/T! Although fertiliser is only one of our costs it does show that the price we receive for our crops has to increase significantly to ensure we remain profitable- at the moment that is happening.

Our pea group has almost finished drilling the crop. The dry weather has affected early crops that will be harvested from mid-June but it is also impacting on those crops that have just been drilled. Although soils still have moisture peas are having to be drilled deeper to find it and that means they take longer to emerge, and this can impact on the continuity we need for harvesting!

Stay safe and well

Richard