Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[kattabelly]

I'll take the liberty of answering this as it's only about 100 miles east of here. No. Grasslands and cereal fields are usually brown by mid August but this year most of England has had an exceptionally dry spring and summer.

Seems like it'll be increasingly common in future though. Further east but I remember a few really dry summers when I was living down in Sussex, and the farmers I know there have been looking at what changes they can make based on the assumption that drought is going to be a regular issue from now on.

Even here we've had a couple of scarily dry springs in the last few years, although that's not lasted right through the summer yet thankfully. This field cant have been cut for hay much more than a fortnight ago

The wind last week caused more crop damage than it would if we'd had a wetter spring though.

 

[Perris]

Seems like it'll be increasingly common in future though

Yes. I think I need to learn to cope with increasingly static weather patterns (lows or highs blocked in place) and more energetic weather (intensity of rain or wind) when it does change from one to another.

what changes they can make based on the assumption that drought is going to be a regular issue from now on

I think they'll have to ditch the modern version of slash-and-burn agriculture we've been practicing these past 50-odd years.

 

[kattabelly]

I think they'll have to ditch the modern version of slash-and-burn agriculture we've been practicing these past 50-odd years.

The people I know were already very into all the regen ag, permanent pasture etc stuff tbf. Rainwater capture and storage and more drought-resistant breeds/varieties/types of livestock and crops are the obvious, relatively easy changes they're mostly looking at initially. Still, pretty striking when you hear someone say they're downsizing their flock of local heritage sheep in favour of breeds developed for places like Australia and South Africa.

 

[Perris]

The people I know were already very into all the regen ag, permanent pasture etc stuff tbf. Rainwater capture and storage and more drought-resistant breeds/varieties/types of livestock and crops are the obvious, relatively easy changes they're mostly looking at initially.

Good.

Still, pretty striking when you hear someone say they're downsizing their flock of local heritage sheep in favour of breeds developed for places like Australia and South Africa.

That sort of approach is the problem. Why do people not recognize the value of the local? why is the preferred solution always exotic? Grass greener on the other side? It's just too stupid.

eta sorry for the expletives but it really gets my goat. Sussex is not going to look like the outback or South Africa in their lifetimes, if ever!

 

[kattabelly]

That sort of approach is the problem. Why do people not recognize the value of the local? why is the preferred solution always exotic? Grass greener on the other side? It's just too stupid.

eta sorry for the expletives but it really gets my goat. Sussex is not going to look like the outback or South Africa in their lifetimes, if ever!

It's going to look less and less like the Sussex of a century or two ago, though. There've been some drastic predictions about how the distribution of native trees like beech and birch will change in the next 50 years as they become increasingly unable to cope with the climate in the south of England and get pushed out by other species, for example.

It's not something we've discussed recently or in detail, so I can't explain the reasoning behind that example in too much detail or back it up with facts and figures. I know that particular farm is mostly chalk downland though, which is dry and needs careful management even in a good year.

I do get your point and I don't necessarily disagree, but I think it's often a balancing act and more complicated than just "local is best".

 

[Perris]

it's often a balancing act and more complicated than just "local is best"

indeed; I just get fed up with people who look to the other side of the world for solutions. Bit like people visiting interesting / important sites and attractions when they go on holiday, and somehow never find time to visit the ones on their doorstep. I hold my hand up there too, btw

 

[fuzzi]

What I find amusing is the ability of experts to predict long range weather trends when they can't accurately predict 48 hours.


Tax:

Look at who's peeking around the last hen's tail, far left.