The weather... it’s our great guessing game
FARMERS have a reputation for never being happy with the weather – and if we’re not complaining about what the elements are throwing at us we’re criticising the forecasters for getting things wrong.
That’s understandable, though, as at harvest time – and at many other key points in the year – an accurate idea of what the weather will be doing a day or two ahead can be crucial to how we plan and manage our businesses.
But it would appear that there are big changes ahead – if not in the weather itself, then in the form of who provides our most-watched forecasts.
However, despite our grumbles, I can’t help but feel a bit sorry that after 94 years of working with the Met Office, in a few months’ time the BBC will be getting its forecast service from elsewhere.
While the big furore over what is going to happen to our favourite presenters seems to have blown over – with most of the wellkent faces set to continue following the change next year – it’ll be interesting to see how the new company actually performs.
While the new boys, MeteoGroup, are set to showcase new graphics and provide the BBC’s website and programmes with more localised forecasts, much of the data used to produce their weather predictions will still be based on information supplied by the Met Office.
The main TV weather forecasts are no doubt likely to remain crucial viewing for farmers.
Silence will doubtless continue to be enforced during their two-minute slot – although the wonders of the internet ensure ever-more-convenient ways of keeping tabs on the weather.
Of course, the sheer choice of forecasts can make it even more difficult to plan ahead. I often find myself flicking through several different websites and find that for every forecast which predicts that it’s going to be dry over the next few days, there’s usually at least one that’s predicting showers or even heavy rain.
It’s a case of “you pays your money and you takes your choice”.
There are specialist farming weather providers out there of course – and for some of the really big farms it can be well worthwhile paying for a dedicated service.
But, for the majority of us, we will continue to watch avidly after the news then look to the sky, feel the piece of seaweed hanging at the back door, tap the barometer... and take our best guess.