Weather woes no longer cause real farming hardship

THE other day I was having a drink with a neighbour of mine who is a part-time farmer.

He was grumbling about the weather, as all farmers tend to.

He has several hay meadows and the crop should have been saved in June. It was now August and the grass was rank. The fields, instead of green, were a pale fawn colour from the ripe seed heads. This doesn’t make for good hay.