RECESSION CASE STUDY: Bleak outlook for farming (From The Advertiser Series)
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Bleak outlook for farming
12:00am Friday 26th October 2012 in News
By Emily Flanagan, Reporter
REGARDLESS of what happens to the economy, the forecast for farming looks bleak says one landowner.
John Seymour runs an 800-acre arable, beef and sheep farm near Stokesley. He said the industry has been battered by bad weather all year and the impact will last well into next year.
“We’re in real trouble in farming at the moment,” he said.
“I’ve had the worst year of my career. I’ve been farming since I left university, for 44 years and 2012 is the worst year because of the weather. It’s just gone on and on and on.
“It’s impacting not just on arable farming, but livestock as well, because feed prices are going up.”
Mr Seymour, a director of Farmway in Piercebridge, a co-operative for farmers, said the squeeze will be even more acute next year.
“Every day it’s raining we can’t sow our crops for next year, so about a third of crops for 2013 aren’t planted and those that are will have a reduced yield," he said.
“Farmers haven’t got any money to spend if they haven’t got crops to sell.
“As far as we’re concerned the recession hasn’t lifted, it will go on into next year.”
