It never rains…

If you farm potatoes, or any arable crop for that matter, rainfall is critical. As we reach the end of April 2025, the ground is as dry as a bone. Twelve inches of rain fell in the six months to March 2025, compared to 19 inches in the six months to March 2024.

Last year, too much rain made it hard to get onto the fields, and many winter crops failed.

This year it’s the opposite. No wonder farmers keep such a close eye on the rainfall.

Thanks to Steven Rooke for providing his rainfall records for the last 22 years. This year looks very similar to 2020, the first year of lockdowns, when we had a beautiful spring.

And let’s hope we don’t get a repeat of 2012 or 2007, when the Ryedale Show was cancelled because of exceptional rain in June.

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