Our review of 2022 agricultural news continues with a look at July and August.
In the news – the earliest harvest ever in Egnland, controversy over the Welsh draft Sustainable Farming Scheme, (the then) HRH Prince Charles talks up regenerative agriculture and another new Conservative leader and PM.
See also: Earliest ever barley cut for farms as harvest picks up pace
July
Harvest
The earliest harvest ever got under way on some farms around the country as the warm summer weather kicked in.
Doug Dear, based near Selby in North Yorkshire, moved into his Valerie winter barley on 4 July, with the field yielding 8.89t/ha and the grain coming off at 15% moisture.
“It’s nice barley, with loads of straw as well, which is what we need,” the mixed beef and arable farmer told Farmers Weekly. The month also saw an upsurge in field fires.
Sugar beet contracts
Sugar beet growers had cause for celebration in early July as British Sugar and the NFU announced a substantial price rise for the 2023-24 contract year.
The new basic price of £40/t represented a 48% increase on the previous season – a move intended to try to persuade producers to stick with the crop in the face of a declining area.
Other options included a “yield guarantee” insurance-type product and a £2/t local delivery premium.
The 2022 sugar beet harvest © MAG/David Jones
Sustainable Farming Scheme
Welsh farmers expressed their dismay as rural affairs secretary Lesley Griffiths unveiled her draft Sustainable Farming Scheme, which includes a requirement for all farmers to provide at least 10% tree cover on their land.
The new post-Brexit policy has a way to go yet, but if this controversial idea is retained it would result in the loss of productive land in Wales, warned Farmers’ Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts.
Farmer protests
Protests spread across Europe, with Dutch farmers up in arms about their government’s plans to shut down farms that are unable or unwilling to reduce stock levels in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
But direct action went wider than that, with German farmers taking to the streets in support, Italian farmers protesting over drought concerns, and Spanish farmers disgruntled by rural depopulation.
Farm safety
The number of people suffering fatal injuries on farms took a turn for the better in 2022, with annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive published in July pointing to 25 deaths in England, Scotland and Wales, compared with 41 in the previous 12-month period.
Being hit by a moving vehicle was the number-one cause of death.
Royal Welsh Show returns
Jessica Simms © MAG/Phillip Case
The Royal Welsh Show returned after a two-year Covid-enforced break, occurring on the same day the country recorded its highest ever temperature, at 37.1C.
Overall attendance numbers were slightly down due to the heatwave, as were cattle entries. The main talking point was the worsening fodder shortage.
August
Liz Truss becomes PM
The Tory leadership contest dominated the news in August, as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak went head-to-head to become prime minister following the inglorious departure of Boris Johnson.
The two candidates set out their manifestos for agriculture, with Ms Truss offering her credentials as a former Defra secretary and Mr Sunak promising to boost food security.
It was clear Mr Sunak ticked more boxes on the NFU “wish list”, but Ms Truss won.
© Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo
Animal Rebellion
Activists from Animal Rebellion poured milk all over the floor of luxury department store Harrods and staged a sit-in in the cheese aisle in a Waitrose supermarket in London, as part of their protest against dairy production.
Despite a social media backlash, the group promised further disruption to the milk supply chain in September.
Rural crime
Figures from NFU Mutual pointed to a 40% increase in rural crime in the first quarter of 2022, as thieves seemingly made up for lost time incurred during the previous year’s Covid-related lockdowns.
The rural insurer’s annual crime report released in August showed that the cost of theft had actually dropped 9% in 2021 t0 £40.5m. But its experts warned of a return to pre-pandemic levels for the rest of the year.
Solar panels
The rising cost of energy due to the Ukraine war, the lack of an energy price cap for businesses, and the long weeks of summer sunshine led to an upsurge in sales of solar panels.
Despite continuing arguments about the rights and wrongs of putting panels over farmland, supplier MyPower reported a 350% increase in demand, with Countryfile presenter and farmer Adam Henson among its customers.
Regen farming
HRH Prince Charles (as he was then) addressed the 22nd World Soil Congress in Glasgow, describing soil as “overlooked, degraded and polluted”.
The finger of blame was pointed at “industrialised agriculture”, he said, using his platform to call for a wider uptake of regenerative farming methods.
Horticulture
Labour shortages continued to have a big impact on the horticulture sector, with an NFU survey suggesting that £60m of fruit and veg had been left to rot in the fields in the first half of 2022 for lack of anyone to harvest it.
The losses came at a time when hot weather was already reducing crop yields, prompting calls for a significant expansion of the government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme.
Shearing record
© Ruth Rees Photography
Welsh sheep shearer Lloyd Rees from Brecon set a new British record after shearing 902 lambs in nine hours. The event also raised thousands of pounds for two charities – Parkinson’s UK and the Wales Air Ambulance service.
