Eurion mentioned in the last blog update what fantastic weather it has been for lambing. Very little rain has fallen during March, and this is causing concern not only for farmers who are in need of rain, but also because March is to be amongst the driest on record (Farmers Weekly, 29th March). From the 1st to the 22nd of March, only 13mm of rain fell in England and Wales, which is only 18% of the usual monthly average for March.
Similar stories have been reported in France, Portugal and Spain, which means that water shortage is a real issues. This could result in a change in water pricing policies for some agricultural areas. In the IFMA congress in New Zealand last week, Profesor Mike Young of the University of Adelaide said that the one thing that Australian farmers hated the most was water being on the meter and that they had to pay for it. That story is no doubt the same all over the world.
But knowing West Wales, it is likely that the rain will soon come, and when it does, who knows when it will stop?!
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