Monthly Update - September 2026
Amongst the newly planted grass behind our house is a patch of thistles. Regularly a large flock of goldfinches arrive in the afternoon and nervously feed on the seedheads amongst them. Lines of fresh green grass growth emerging are the reward for the much prayed-for rain, which refreshed the land after such an extended hot dry run. Turnips have been planted just in time, with the hope of food for sheep and cattle in the autumn. It has been a long haul with nothing growing. Harvest yields nationally have been near the bottom of a ten-year average, with official reports using extreme statements like “wide variation in performance” and “variability cannot be overstated”. When Richard Plank’s father moved to Severalls Farm in Stanford Dingley on his wedding day in 1938 he was warned that the land was OK provided it had a shower of rain every day and a shower of MUCK on Sundays. With generally light gravel soil and the middle England dome of heat over us it has been hard for farmers here. “Variability cannot be overstated” means yields have been poor.
However, it would have been far worse had it not been for last autumn’s excellent planting weather for winter crops, and that extended into the spring. There was a wonderful rain in mid-June just at the right time for grain fill, quality has been good and oil seed rape yields were the highest on record. Yields of grass for silage and hay were high and it was good stuff. And you will know that farmgate prices for lamb and beef are very high, or maybe you don’t look anymore. So, all is not lost. “Hot and dry weather Support” from the government is there to help. The price of wheat and rape went up because of uncertainty about exports from Ukraine, and then went down because it was OK. And then moved a bit because Iran and USA were again chatting. They say the soya harvest in the States is going to be good, and although the hot weather killed me off there is still plenty of good maize to be harvested in France. China has had a record harvest.
It is amazing that in spite of all that is happening God’s promise is that
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8 22
Thank you for our food, Lord God.