For those farmers affected by the floods

Flood affected farmers in this area will welcome the news that the government has announced they can apply for grants of up to £35,000 to help them recover from the devastating effects of last winter’s weather which affected many farmers on the Somerset Levels.

The money comes from the “Farm Recovery Fund” which was set up by DEFRA after Prince Charles and a succession of politicians, including David Cameron, visited Somerset to see the grim reality of what was happening for themselves.

DEFRA opened the fund on 28th February and initially have been taking bids for up to £5000 per farm, but from 28th April, farmers who have been particularly badly affected can apply for additional funding up to a total of £35,000 in total. This includes any money they have already been awarded under the initial bid process.

DEFRA secretary Owen Patterson re-visited the Levels on 15th April to see how farmers are recovering which is when he announced the second phase of the grant application to help farmers meet the costs “putting flooded farmland back in to production”.

James Winslade, who is the beef farmer whose cattle we saw so dramatically evacuated as the flood waters rapidly rose, engulfing his farm and the nearby village of Moorland, said, “It’s good that the government has acknowledged the scale of the problem. We have insurance but it mostly covers damage caused by fire and not floods. I will definitely apply for this additional grant money. Unless I apply for this grant I will not cope”.

What is clear is that although the weather has improved and superficially the grass looks as though it is growing, the land which was flooded to a significant depth for several months will not be productive for some time. This will not only impact on the availability of grazing for cattle which should be outside now, but it will impact on the amount of fodder which will be able to be conserved for next winter.

Thus farmers such as James Winslade are facing extra feed bills now and well in to the future plus the additional costs of bringing the damaged pasture back in to production. This will clearly have a very significant impact on the finances of such farmers and that is not to mention the impact the flooding will have had on their own homes.

Therefore the new grant money will be an important boost to help the worst affected farmers get back on their feet but it will be, by no means, a panacea for all their troubles.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

Memories of 2012 have come 'flooding' back

The memories of 2012 have unfortunately come flooding back (excuse the pun) to many in recent weeks and the Somerset Levels in particular seem to have taken the brunt in this area. The main road to Taunton is once again cut off and we see pictures of villagers being supplied with essential goods by boat.

 

No doubt the issue of dredging the main water courses more effectively will become a hot topic of conversation but it has to be remembered that winter flooding was a regular feature of farming on the levels in the past. The problem this time is that it has followed the devastating floods of 2012 which has left some farmers still recovering from the effects of those floods which started in April and continued on and off throughout the summer and beyond.

 

Such summer flooding is far more damaging than winter flooding because it occurs during the growing season, killing grass and other crops, preventing grazing and damaging soil structure when machinery or livestock cross waterlogged soils. This leads to short and long term impacts on the farmers affected. They not only lose summer grazing and fodder stocks which need to be replaced in order to maintain livestock numbers in the short term they also face the cost of re-establishing grass swards and sorting out the damage to the soil structure in the long term.

 

It is these latter issues which are most likely to cause some farmers particular problems now, in that the grass leys which were reseeded last year are still relatively immature and may not survive the winter flooding which older permanent pastures would probably survive relatively unscathed. The type of grass seed used will also be important in that some of the modern short term leys will struggle to survive periods of flooding whereas many of the old permanent pasture seed mixes are far more resistant to such conditions. However, such seed mixes are less productive and so farmers have to balance the risk flooding against the productivity of the grass.

 

So, although these floods will have been devastating for some I would suggest, provided they do not last too long, they will have done significantly less damage to farmland than was the case in 2012. But whether or not a farm has been flooded, the very wet conditions make looking after livestock in particular difficult. Out wintered stock need to be moved more regularly to prevent the land becoming poached, mud is everywhere hindering virtually everything you need to do, manure and slurry become difficult to handle in wet yards and rainwater fills the slurry lagoons threatening an overspill and yet it is difficult to spread the slurry on waterlogged land without causing soil damage and risking a pollution incident.

 

Thus, all in all wet weather just makes farming difficult and unpleasant work although most will be glad the rain did not come as snow – let’s just hope that is not what February has in store for us.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

Difficulties with the weather

This is the time to reflect on the events of the last year and although the weather proved much less of a talking point this year than last, it was the aftermath of last year’s wet weather that has been one on the most significant factors affecting this year’s profits in the arable sector in particular.

 

The terrible weather in 2012, which continued in to early 2013 meant that many farmers were unable to plant winter crops last autumn. As a consequence they were forced to plant crops this spring, many of which struggled to grow as wet weather gave way of cold northerly winds well in to April. Such spring sown crops generally yield significantly less than their autumn sown equivalent, hence the impact on profits.

 

The weather did eventually warm up and we experienced hot dry conditions during June and July which impacted on the yields of some crops but in general the weather for harvest and the establishment of crops for harvest in 2014 was good. However, the writing was already on the wall for the yields for the 2013 harvest and the double whammy came in the form of falling world commodity prices. For example feed wheat and barley are trading at around £159/t and £134/t respectively today as compared to £206/t and £194/t a year ago. Accordingly with lower yields and lower prices it is not difficult to do the maths for arable farming profits in 2013.

 

As far as the livestock sector is concerned, 2013 has in general proved rather more positive than for arable farmers. This is in part because the falling arable commodity prices has reflected in falling feed prices which is particularly important for dairy farmers and more intensive beef producers. However, the margins in beef production still remain incredibly tight, despite 2013 seeing historically high beef prices peaking at over £4/kg.

 

This however causes problems to those beef farmers who fatten young beef animals bred by other farmers. The price of these so called “store” cattle has been incredibly strong which has meant beef fattening units now have frighteningly large amounts of capital tied up in livestock from which they are earning a very low margin and many of these businesses are still heavily reliant on EU support payments to make a profit.

 

In contrast to the beef industry, the lamb price was low early in the year and with wet followed by cold weather in to late spring, lambing was not easy. Further the lamb trade is heavily dependent on exports and with the EU economy suffering, demand from France in particular has been weaker which has not helped prices. Accordingly it has been a generally difficult year for many sheep farmers.

 

As far as the dairy sector is concerned the prospects look reasonably positive, provided you are not affected by the ongoing problem of TB which can have a devastating impact on dairy farms in particular. The improved weather in 2013 allowed dairy farmers to repair grass swards which were damaged by last year’s weather and to refill their empty silage pits and barns with good quality forage stocks. Further, falling arable prices will reduce feed costs over the winter and coupled with a significant increase in milk price over the last year as world demand outstripped supply, dairy farmers should see better returns in 2013, although it has to be said they did come from a very low base in 2012.

 

So, all in all the weather was so much better in 2013 than 2012 and that alone gave farmers a feeling of optimism, but the reality is that the “hangover” from last year’s weather is probably going to be felt in this year’s profit and loss accounts. But with most winter crops safely in the ground and beef and milk prices remaining firm, there is hope for most that 2014 will prove a more profitable year than 2013.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk