Farmer Andrew Blenkiron in a water-scarce maize field on August 10, 2022 in Euston, UK (AFP/William EDWARDS)
Exploding energy prices, a drought and historic heat waves, so many “mass blows” for an English farmer, forced to make painful choices to save part of the harvest.
The electricity bill for the Euston estate, 4,250 hectares 130 km northeast of London, will quadruple this year to “370,000 pounds sterling” (438,000 euros), explains AFP its manager, Andrew Blenkiron.
This is the consequence of the tripling of tariffs but also of the need to pump more water due to weather conditions, at a time when part of the United Kingdom is once again experiencing temperatures of over 30°C.
With “the incredible heat and the extremely dry wind”, it was necessary to water “probably twice as much” the potato fields, assures Mr. Blenkiron, contemplating one of the two giant tanks of the domain, of a capacity of 363 million liters.
Farmer Andrew Blenkiron in front of one of the two giant reservoirs on the almost empty Euston estate, on August 10, 2022 in the United Kingdom (AFP/William EDWARDS)
In this season, its level should reach 5 meters out of a maximum of ten, but it is almost empty.
The land in this part of Suffolk is very fertile, provided it receives enough nutrients and water. However, the region received only about 10% of the usual rainfall in July, and less than 50% over three months.
The last exceptionally dry months in central and southern England have led to restrictions on water consumption being put in place in some areas and are a blow for fruit and vegetable producers, who are seeing their production decimated.
The Euston estate irrigates the potatoes for which it is harvest season. In contrast, sugar beets are left to fend for themselves.
A potato field at the Euston estate on August 10, 2022 in the United Kingdom (AFP/William EDWARDS)
Unearthed at random by Mr. Blenkiron, some, which should be the size of a handball, sport a wiry and stunted appearance.
“We think that the yield will be halved”, says the manager, while hoping for a return of the rains by the seasonal opening of the sugar factory, at the end of September, because “the beet can recover (from the mass ) quite significantly.
On the other hand, it is already too late for fodder corn, used in animal feed, which will pose “real difficulties this winter” to operate the methanisation unit of the estate.
The oil shock has also resulted in a tripling of the price of fertilizers and a doubling of that of fuel for tractors and combine harvesters.
Euston, owned for 350 years by the Dukes of Grafton, is forced to bear these increases alone, since the prices of the 2022 harvests are fixed contractually.
Fields affected by drought at the Euston estate, on August 10, 2022 in the United Kingdom (AFP/William EDWARDS)
On the other hand, “if energy prices are at the same level next year, we will have to pass these costs on to our customers”, warns Mr Blenkiron, when inflation is already at its highest since the 1980s. .
And if there is not enough rain this winter, “there will be very difficult decisions to be made on the quantities we are going to sow”.
© 2022 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
