It has been estimated that over 70% of all our industries are affected by the weather. And none more so than agriculture.

Some of the best weather forecasters are farmers. In the past, their livelihood often depended on them being able to foretell the weather.

Generally they do it by observing signs in the sky (red sky at night for example) and using the experience that has been passed down from generation to generation. They are very good at forecasting for their own farm for the next few hours, but not for longer, or indeed forecasting for a different area of the country.

One of the problems that the farmer has is that each activity on the farm often requires a different type of weather. As crops grow and need to be sprayed, a quiet type of weather is needed to allow the insecticides to penetrate the crops and not washed or blown away.

So what farmers should look out for is a large slow moving anticyclone or area of high pressure. This is the same condition that is needed when applying fertilizers, but the difference is that once applied they need washing in with rain. In this case the farmer has to spot, on the weather maps, a ridge of high pressure or small travelling anticyclone between two depressions. That gives him the fine weather to spray, then 12 hours later the next weather front will bring the rain to wash it in.

Haymaking is another time when quiet dry weather is needed, with a little wind this time. For this again the large Azores anticyclone is required. If he doesn't get five days good drying weather the farmer has to make silage instead!

There are times in the year when steady rain is what is wanted, not heavy thundery downpours. Weather systems coming in regularly from the moisture laden Atlantic with a westerly wind would produce the desired results.

The weekly forecast on television or online enables the farmer to plan the week's work, whereas his detailed knowledge of local effects helps to plan the individual days.

There is an old saying that farmers want the impossible. Sun in one field, rain in another, and frost in a third, and oh... could we please have the rain at night!

As we all know, farming is a very difficult job especially in the present political climate. The variability of the weather is just an extra dimension, which could be a God send or a disaster.

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More on Weather and Agriculture.

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