Onions and pumpkins are likely to be in short supply this autumn and while this week’s grey skies are producing drizzle, some farmers are having to irrigate to ensure winter crops are getting enough water to grow.
Christine Hellio runs Manor Farm in Vinchelez, St Ouen, with her husband Didier, and they are the Island’s second-largest producer of mixed fresh vegetables.
‘The recent rain has made things a little better, but it came too late for crops like onions, which had suffered from the dry weather beforehand,’ she said.
‘That said, we are going to have to start irrigating some crops soon, as there is not much rain in the long-term forecast and the drizzle is doing absolutely nothing for us [because it does not soak into the ground].’
Mrs Hellio expects her pumpkin crop, which the couple grow for the Co-op and for sale at their roadside stall, to be halved. This shortfall, she explained, was because they had to choose which crops to irrigate last month, so the pumpkin plants lost out to other vegetables and Jersey Royals that had to be harvested sooner.
The recent growth of grass may be good news for gardeners, but it may have come too late for the dairy industry to make silage – winter feed. Farmers have already had to resort to using stocks of silage made in the late spring to feed their herds when pasture land became parched. Moreover, there will be fewer opportunities to make silage in the coming weeks, as when the days shorten grass growth naturally diminishes.
However, the rain has boosted other winter feed crops such as maize, and St Martin dairy farmer Tom Perchard said they were working with the Island’s Jersey Royal growers to plant late autumn and early spring forage crops and grass varieties to provide new sources of cattle feed.
Regardless of such initiatives, he says, the dairy industry will have to import feed for the winter when cows are traditionally kept inside.
‘We were very grateful for the rain we have just had and it has done some good, but even though there has been some grass growth, the situation is still pretty bad,’ he said.
Farmers in all sectors in the UK and western Europe have been similarly affected by heat waves and droughts, so shortages all round are expected to push prices up this winter for fresh produce.
