Skip to content

Farmer 'thrilled' with rainy Bank Holiday forecast

Ellen Knightin Wem
News imageBBC Rory Lay is looking into the camera and smiling widely. He is wearing a bright blue polo shirt, and a grey cap. He is stood in a farmyard, with dark green barns behind him. The ground is concrete, and scattered with puddles of rainwater. The sky is light grey and overcast. BBC
Rory Lay said he felt very relieved to see rain on his farm after months of dry weather

"We are really, really happy that it's been raining. I've been waiting for this day."

After weeks of hot, dry weather farmer Rory Lay was among those welcoming the return of rain to the Shropshire countryside.

Lay, who runs a beef, sheep, and arable farm outside Wem said he and others had been hoping for a downpour for weeks.

"We were anticipating it, and were checking all our phones," Lay said, adding that he was "thrilled when it actually turned up."

"Some nice steady rain over the next few weeks will be ideal really," he added.

Farmers in the county have previously spoken of "unbelievably poor" yields from the hot, dry summer.

But Shropshire is forecast to see plenty of longed-for rain, including over the Bank Holiday weekend.

News imageEllen Knight/BBC Photograph of a barn on Lay's farm, which is stacked high with haybales. In the foreground, the barn in reflected in a puddle of rainwater. A small red digger is parked next to the barn. The sky is light grey and overcast. Ellen Knight/BBC
The rain means farmers can replenish their stocks of winter feed, which many have already been using to cope with the dry fields

The weather has also given Lay and his team plenty of work to do.

"We can push into the priority work, which for us is planting oilseed rape," he explained.

"Now I know we've got some moisture, that can be planted and then it will romp away."

Lay said wet weather could also reduce the threat posed by flea beetles, insects that feed on young oilseed rape plants.

The insects "nibble away" at the germinating crop and limit its growth, he said.

But flea beetles "aren't keen on rain", he added, raising hopes the crop will be spared from the hungry insects this year.

News imageGetty Images Stock photograph of a field of oilseed rape. The crop is bright yellow, and covers the entire field in the foreground. Beyond this field are more green and yellow fields, and a hill rises up in the distance. The sky is blue and has lots of fluffy white clouds. Getty Images
The bright yellow fields of oilseed rape are a familiar sight - and farmer Rory Lay believes the rain will help his crop get off to a good start

The deluge was also good news for livestock too, he explained.

Lay, like many farmers, had been using winter feed rations due to the dry, bare fields with little grass.

His stock of winter feed was already disappearing rapidly, he said, "the stocks are getting low before we'd normally start to feed it".

But the farmer estimates that in a few weeks' time, the fields should be looking more green - meaning he can "get some silage done and build up the winter feed stocks."

The general feeling now is one of relief, he added.

And for anyone dreading a rainy Bank Holiday weekend?

"You've had plenty of dry weather - you should have made the most of it", Lay joked.

"With this country, we usually have rain all the time, so it's a nice balance."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

More on this story