Friday, 09 January 2009

Major rescue operation starts to save Cumbrian crops

A major rescue operation began on Cumbria’s harvest this week thanks to the spell of good weather.

mwcombine
Salvage: A combine harvester works near Wiggonby as farmers and agricultural contractors take advantage of dry weather

Many crops thought to have been lost are being brought in by contractors like John Horsley, who has been working flat out combine harvesting on the Solway Plain.

Mr Horsley said: “It’s surprising what a difference a day makes. Grain had been coming off very wet but in the last few days it has begun improving all the time.

“Having said that, it’s still just a salvage operation.”

He added that he would normally have finished contract work by the start of September but was only starting the first maize harvest yesterday.

There are still thousands of acres of grass silage to be cut but Mr Horsley is confident that most of it will be rescued.

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