I can certainly say that for my part, I have rarely met farming folk who don't care about the weather. For thousands of years it is what we, as the human race, have relied on to fill our stomachs whether we all know it or not. Since farmers are the ones who have to work with mother nature to get food on our tables, it is no wonder that it is often the topic of much conversation and frustration.
While watching the weather forecast, a farmer's day, month or even year can go from fantastic to terrible in minutes (or vice-versa!). Here's a typical scenario which is becoming all the more frequent thanks to climate change: a hot springtime. For most, this is the dream: summer has come early, time to whip out the padding pool, BBQ and pimms! And yet, for farmers who have crops in the ground, or are planting spring crops, this couldn't be worse timing: just when their crops are needing water to grow and store up for the summer months, they have nothing to drink. Some farmers may be able to irrigate (water) their crops, but not all of them. So for the rest it is a worrying wait until the next rain.
Queue the rain. You would have thought we would be happy by now, but not yet... If too much rain comes too quickly it will simply fly straight off the sun-dried soil or damage the delicate crop. Too little rain will not be enough to seep through the sun-dried soil to help water our crops... A nice steady rain is all we ask for yet this is not always what we are given!
So, it could be argued that farmers have reason to complain! It is a privilege to work with the elements and mother nature has her own way of doing things: the weather is a powerful element and can obliterate entire crops. Farmers are used to adapting, but with the changing climate, this stormy relationship is set to become all the more challenging.
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