NFU deputy president sees flood damage for himself

1:47pm Thursday 16th August 2007

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THE deputy president of the NFU, Meurig Raymond, paid a visit to Herefordshire last week to talk to farmers who have been badly affected by the adverse weather over the last few months, and to see the damage first hand.

Mr Raymond told farmers: "We have been asked by Lord Jeff Rooker, Defra's Minister of State for Agriculture, to quantify the crop damage and the financial repercussions of the exceptionally wet weather which hit the country over the last few months and report back to him."

He then explained it may be possible to tap into an EU disaster fund, but admitted it would be a very difficult task to assess the losses as the effects have been so variable and there was no guarantee that financial help would be forthcoming.

The deputy president was told where crops had been completely inundated and had remained under water for several weeks so that plants had died while, in other cases where the flood water had receded in a matter of a day or so and although the grass and crops had survived, they are covered in fine silt.

Mr Raymond heard that there will be some farmers who will suffer considerable financial losses.

Graham Hunter Blair told the deputy president: "I recorded over 16 inches of rain between the beginning of May and the end of July, which is more than twice what I would normally expect. In the north of the county they had much more than that."

He then asked: "The question for some farmers will be how can I stay in business with the adverse effect on cash-flows?"

It was impressed on the deputy president, who grows a large acreage of potatoes in Pembrokeshire, that overall the potato crop had suffered more damage than other crops in Herefordshire. Where fields had been under water for several days, the crop is a complete right-off, but elsewhere incessant wet weather had increased disease levels, making blight control difficult and costly.

l From Page 129 During his visit, Meurig Raymond visited a large field of potatoes being grown by Russell Price at Haywood, near Hereford to see the damage for himself.

Water was still lying in the tramlines, the soil was wet, compacted and unkind and already some disease was evident on the potatoes. Russell Price said that the combination of difficult soil conditions and the level of disease and damaged tubers will make harvesting and grading very difficult this year. He said "I estimate I will have lost 25% of my 400 acre potato crop."

All the farmers Meurig Raymond met stressed that was not the end of the story. They all felt the damage to the soils caused by the extreme weather conditions will take two or three years to return to normal and sowing crops this autumn will be fraught with difficulties.