Is the grass always greener when the rain falls?

Simon Williams, a farmer of over 50 years at Cae Llys Farm in Northop Hall has concerns for his silage sales this winter following the adverse and contradictory weather in the last four months.

Mr Williams said: "I only grow grass for silage, but the adverse weather will have an effect on. It didn't rain for weeks and it was baking hot, and it did not grow as well this year."

It's just "one of those thing," according to Mr Williams, but the freaky forces of nature we have seen over the past few months have had an negative impact on the Northop Hall farmer's sales.

He said: "I sold some silage last year, but I haven't sold any this year. But I probably will. The price of silage has doubled this year but I have not made any more money. It's simple really: if you have half the quantity, you have double the price. You're no better off."

The rain that followed Storm Ali around two weeks ago was a blessing for silage. "The rain helped, but the days are getting shorter and the grass doesn't grow as quick with no sun. We could have done with the rain a bit earlier.

"If we have an early winter and a late spring, people are going to be in trouble. Winter hasn't come yet, but it will. You can be an optimist or a pessimist."

At almost 70 years of age, Mr Williams said he "does not want to do much work," but said he sympathises with dairy and potato farmers who have suffered a "terrible" blight during the latter half of this year.

He said: "Dairy farmers are going to be in trouble if we have an early winter. If you have an early winter, the cattle eat more in the cold.

"Potato farmers have had a terrible summer this year because of the drought - unless they have irrigation, but this costs a lot of money to put on fields."

Mr Williams said that he hopes, for the sake of his silage and for farmers across the UK, that we are blessed with an early spring.