THE current unpredictable weather and soggy conditions underfoot are making the gathering of this year's cereal harvest very difficult for many farmers.
However, Graham Bruce, the managing direct or Ringlink, Scotland's largest machinery and labour sharing co-operative, has assured members that the organisation is ready to cope with the hefty workload.
He said: "There is always bedlam after a long
period when the weather has interrupted work, but we have already moved combines from areas where harvesting is up to date. The benefit of the ring system is the flexibility it brings to a difficult season."
The capacity of modern combines is awesome and Bruce believes that, given a reasonable window of better weather, his members will soon catch up.
In the early days of Ringlink, all the work was carried out on a so-called fire brigade basis, with no prior booking. That has all changed to a position where of the work is booked long-term. But Bruce urges any farmer who thinks he might need extra help to get in touch promptly.
The weather during August has mostly been depressing, but it is worth noting that last year the first 20 days of the month were wet, but this was the followed by a month of fine dry weather when the harvest was almost totally cleared up.
Bruce is almost as concerned about the baling of straw, with many farmers having already chopped up the straw from early combined crops. He expects this trend to continue should the weather fail to improve.
Pressure to get the next crop into the ground and the difficulty of baling between the showers, has accentuated this the increased level of chopping. But, according to Bruce there also appears to be a reduced demand for straw this year.
He said: "Livestock numbers are down and this is perhaps just a reflection of this trend in the short-term before any significant volume of this year's straw comes on the market. But we are seeing a good demand for last year's straw which has been stored under cover."
Ringlink is now in its 21st harvest and it does so with over 2,300 members between Perth in the south, and Inverness in the north and all points east of that line. Turnover has now for the first time exceeded £25 million. A factor in the boost to turnover is the fact that commodity trading is increasing. More and more members are using the co-operative to buy their fuel.
Bruce said: "Fuel prices may have eased a little in recent weeks and I would like to see them fall still further."
Members of the ring have been using the muscle of the co-operative to buy fertilisers, but there are some difficulties because the market is dominated by one manufacturer – the Norwegian company Yara.
Ringlink's subsidiary company, Mearns and Angus Services, has also helped to boost turnover through an increase in training courses for farmers and their employees. Part of the 20 per cent increase related to crop spraying courses under contract with Scottish Quality crops.
The full article contains 520 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
