JERSEY’S farmers are facing increased costs amid the Island’s driest winter and spring for more than a decade.
Phil Le Maistre, of Master Farms, said that while it was good to have settled weather in spring, irrigating crops so early in the season was only making their operations more expensive.
His comments come after Jersey Met figures showed that the last time there was this little rain at this time of year was between 2010 and 2011.
Mr Le Maistre said: ‘There’s been no significant rainfall since the second week in April and we have been watering since 18 April. With the costs of diesel rising four-fold from the end of last year, we are facing a lot of extra costs. It’s been very, very dry’
He said he was concerned about the dilemma facing growers of Jersey Royals, who could be forced to reduce exports to maintain seed potato stock for next season; and also about the impact on crops such as barley and maize grown for cattle fodder.
‘All our costs are increasing and we are not receiving any more for our produce. We are in the hands of the gods,’ he said.
His concerns were echoed by Jersey Farmers Union vice-president Doug Richardson. ‘It’s very dry and very lumpy at the moment, and these dry conditions are very problematic,’ he said.
Andrew Le Gallais, chairman of Jersey Dairy, said that although grass-growth was ‘not too bad’ at present, the next three to four weeks could be crucial. ‘We’ve had a reasonable amount of rain but we could certainly do with some more. With the increase in farming costs, the weather now isn’t really doing much for morale but we remain resilient,’ he said.
Latest figures from Jersey Met show a total of 358 millimetres of rain has fallen since the start of December, 25% below the average for the six-month winter and spring period of 477mm. Forecasters say the winter/spring total is unlikely to be supplemented by much more rain before the first day of meteorological summer on Wednesday.
However, the dry weather is yet to impact on the Island’s water reserves, according to Jersey Water, who say that the situation is currently fairly normal with reservoirs 94% full. But a spokesperson added: ‘Regardless of water levels, we would ask all customers to use water wisely – there is an online calculator and tips on reducing usage on our website.’
For the first 25 days of May, Jersey saw just 14.9mm of rain, compared with the 30-year average for the whole month of 53.6mm. October 2021 was the last time measured rainfall exceeded the monthly average.
The most recent winter and spring period to be drier than the current one was from December 2010 to May 2011 inclusive, when 281.2mm of rain was measured, while the lowest-ever figure for this period was 211.5mm in 1975/76.
Duty forecaster Rob Plummer said: ‘As we look towards the end of May and the start of meteorological summer, we are only expecting some showers late on Sunday and a slightly greater chance of more showers on Tuesday evening. [31 May]
‘Based on the current forecast detail, we could see another 5mm across the final days of May, but around 1mm is more likely.’
