We’ve all complained about the weather this summer. Days out spoilt by rain, holidays perhaps not
what we’d hoped, the garden – well! It’s
usually been mow the grass on the one bright day between the rain.
All this has an effect on our farmers too. In modern farming most crops are normally
safely gathered in by now (traditional harvest festivals in October are rather
late in the year). But much of the
harvest is about a fortnight late this year because of the wet weather and the
lack of warmth and sun. The weather is
still more important than just the effect it has on our holidays.
Hay has grown well where it’s been dry enough to cut
(important for animal feed in the winter) but many cereals (wheat, barley,
maize) and other crops are badly affected not just by the difficulty of
harvesting. If they are wet they will add
to the cost of production by having to be dried and in many cases the quality
is not as good as hoped. Either the
grain has not grown as well because of the wet and cooler weather or it may be
diseased because of the damp.
This matters to the farmer, because even if the price
goes up because of shortage (also affected by the droughts in the US and
elsewhere) he may get less for his overall crop if less is harvested and if the
quality is poorer he may not be able to sell it at a prime price. All this means that not just bread, but many
other food-stuffs, will be more expensive in the shops. Whilst this may be an extra expense for us it
will be more serious for many poorer people here in the UK but especially
around the world. Higher food prices may
mean some people will not have enough to eat and even famine.
These higher prices also affect the cost of animal feed
that is necessary to supplement the grass in the fields. Higher ‘input prices’ might mean farmers costs
go up and margins go down. We have all
become aware of this with the direct action taken by farmers over milk
prices. The processors and supermarkets
wanted to cut prices they pay for milk from the farmer but at the same time the
farmer’s costs (feed, fertiliser, diesel, fuel, etc.) have been going up. Livestock (and therefore meat) prices have
generally risen because as more people in places like China become better off
they want to eat meat , raising demand and prices (much New Zealand lamb now
goes to China and not the UK), so livestock farmers have been doing better
after many difficult years. However, as
costs rise there is less profit and in markets like milk where prices are poor
farmers face going out of business or selling herds and scrapping expensive
dairy equipment to grow a different crop or animal.
Many of us take the food in the supermarket or on our
plate for granted. The size of
supermarkets and the long ‘distance’ between farm and shopping trolley makes
the issues to do with food remote. We
are also extremely fortunate because for the most part our harvests and the
production of other food are sufficiently reliable for us to barely notice
changes from year to year. Our harvest
festivals have become a regular celebration of a bounty that is taken for
granted, enabling us to be concerned for the poor and starving in remote
places. Of course, we should remain concerned
for the hungry of the world, not least because poor harvest will affect them
more than us, but our concern needs to be nearer at home too. We are all inter-connected with each other,
and however urban we may be, with the natural world. It seems likely that at least some of the
weather this year that has affected harvests is due to climate change so all of
us who cause greenhouse gasses have a responsibility.
We reflect on our responsibility to care for the creation
entrusted to us by God, on issues of justice and of economic power, care for
our neighbour and the poor, and our inter-connectedness one with each other and
with the creation.
Phillip Jones, Mission Development Officer - Economy
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