A Castle Douglas farmer’s hopes of the best harvest in years have been dashed by weeks of incessant rain.
Now Chris Irving faces an anxious wait to see if he can salvage his fields of ripe spring barley.
He could lose crops worth thousands of pounds if the weather does not improve.
Around 75 acres of barley at Blackerne remain uncut because the combines can’t operate on sodden ground. Mr Irving told the News: “It was the best-looking crop for years — really tremendous.
“But then the rain came and knocked a lot of it flat.
“We use contractors from the Haugh of Urr and they wanted to come on Monday.
“But we had to put him off because it was too wet.
“The forecasters are saying the weather will get better but if we don’t get it dry in the next seven days, we will lose a lot of the crop.
“It’s already over ripe and if the heads fall off, the combine will not be able to get it.”
Scottish feed barley is fetching around £120 a tonne at current market prices.
And Mr Irving’s homegrown crop is a vital part of the farm’s income.
He said: “We bruise all the barley ourselves for feeding the cattle.
“It’s important for winter fodder.
“Normally we would expect a yield of around two-and-a-half tonnes an acre.
“But growth this year was exceptional and we were looking at three tonnes until the weather broke.
“Now we’ll be lucky to get two and a quarter — and we need a dry spell to get even that.
“If we don’t get enough we will have to buy some barley in — and that would mean extra cost.”
Farmers across Galloway are being badly affected by the rain-interrupted harvest.
And Mr Irving’s worries echo those of NFU Scotland’s combinable crops chairman Ian Sands.
Mr Sands said: “Growers the length and breadth of Scotland all seem to be in the same boat as we watch the promise of a very good harvest falter in the wet weather.
“Regardless of what crop anyone is trying to harvest, the fields are very soft for travelling across with combines and trailers.
“With more rain forecast, this will not improve anytime soon.
“Hopefully the weather picks up and quick progress can be made through the main part of harvest.”
“Then we can get next year’s crops back in the ground in decent conditions.”
