Agriculture is
an industry greatly affected by the weather in one way or the other.
Farmers have historically been amongst the best weather forecasters of
recent generations, largely because their livelihood often depended on
their ability to predict and safeguard against adverse weather
conditions.
The saying 'red sky at night...' is an old saying passed down through
generations of farmers and shepherds who used their experience to
forecast any weather changes likely to impact on their farm, crops or
animals.
These days advances in modern technology have made their job a little
easier, but
still farmers face many problems that only the weather could pose.
Each different activity carried out on a modern day farmyard is usually
best suited to one particular type of weather or another. For example,
a farmer would hope for
mild weather for haymaking and to a greater extent crop
growing as heavy wind and rain can interfere with the insecticides used
for
their protection.
On the flip side, there are times when mild dry conditions are most
inconvenient and steady consistent rain is the weather farmers' most
want. In reality there is
no such thing as perfect farmer's weather, as it depends on what is
planned for that day or even week ahead.
With the current financial climate, the unpredictability of weather is
an unwelcome concern making the weather forecast an essential tool for
any farmer!
