The Clerk in the Country

Friday 15th July 2022

Harvest Heatwave

The countryside around here is no longer green.  The view from my windows is a patchwork of yellow cereals and brown oil seed rape and in the last few days combine harvesters have appeared, thrumming rhythmically across fields of barley.

The recent dry spell which ripened the crops came rather too soon.  More rain was needed to fill out the grains and seeds, and yields which looked promising in spring may prove disappointing after all.  There is nothing to be done now but bring in the harvest.  With storms forecast to follow the coming heatwave and the prospect of corn beaten flat and sodden, tangled rape, I doubt farmers will be heeding the advice to stay indoors with the curtains drawn.