'Potato irrigation was continuous throughout June July and most of August. In terms of weather, this has been 10 months to forget, and it doesn’t look like it is getting any better'

As the new yellow combine harvester started rolling a few weeks ago I was apprehensive, not about how it might perform, but how good the crops might be.

The problem with the harvester was more the cost than its undoubted ability. The price has jumped for machinery since we bought our last one 17 seasons ago, and one could buy a very big house in the country for the sort of money it costs to buy big kit now.

A self-propelled potato harvester will set you back the thick end of a million, and with inflation stubbornly remaining higher than we have been used to for the past decade or more, the financial conditions seem to be reminiscent of the mid 1980s.

This was partly what led to the birth of the machinery rings, and a return to more sharing of resources might be a wise course of action. We certainly couldn’t justify our combine unless we also cut both of my brothers’ crops and occasionally others when it fits in.

The other factor that birthed the machinery rings was the awful summer of 1985, and the past 10 months of miserable weather were the source of my apprehension about our arable crops. The early signs were not great as the Oilseed Rape looked good but only yielded 1.5 tons an acre. Rape is clearly a sunshine crop, and there hasn’t been much of that. The small lochan in the middle of the field and the pigeons around the edge of the field for much of the winter and spring probably didn’t help matters.

I could do nothing about the first one, but if I’m being honest, I could have been more diligent about the pigeons.

The winter wheat was sown last September after OSR and field beans, but the usual October sowing of wheat after potatoes never took place as a drain down the middle of the field couldn't cope with the volume of water and ended up a torrent taking tons of topsoil down to the bottom of the field with it. Scenes like this from last winter were common in the East of Scotland. Spring never really happened, March was a washout, though we had a rare window in late March and managed to sow two fields of spring barley before the rain returned for another three weeks, creating lakes in the newly sowed fields.

Nobody sowed anything for another three weeks until early to mid April. then it was like the Klondike goldrush with tractors everywhere across the county going flat out to finish sowing. There was very little sun in the late spring, and summer has been pretty much the same; it has been very cool. but it has also been dry. Potato irrigation was continuous throughout June July and most of August. In terms of weather, this has been 10 months to forget, and it doesn’t look like it is getting any better.

Combining has been very intermittent, with frequent rain forcing us to cut between 18 and 19% moisture.

And yet, and yet, despite all of that, the Laureate spring barley yields so far have been remarkable, between 8 and 9 tons a hectare dried. We are growing it for seed, not malting, so can throw as much Nitrogen at it as it needs.

The Insitor wheat was an exceptional 12.4 tons/ha, and although Skyscraper was not quite as impressive at 10.7 tons/ha, that is still a great yield for us as we have always struggled to shave 10 tons/ha. I think wheat on heavier land might have suffered from the wet winter, but not on our lighter land.

We still have spring barley to cut in Carmyllie five miles inland, which is higher up and later, but if we get the weather to cut them they look like decent crops, as do the fresh beans East Coast Viners have growing there. They also had a few acres of peas at Scryne which they tell me yielded well over the target 2 tons per acre. A field of turnips let to the Stewarts was a good crop too apparently, so it’s not just cereals that seem to have thrived in the indifferent summer.

Potato shaws are being pulverised in preparation for lifting at the end of the month once the skins are set, and initial digs indicate that yields are respectable rather than record breaking. Loose skin Piper was recently lifted nearby at £400 ton however, so prices will more than make up for any yield disappointment there.

Despite this being a long period of weather to forget, the plants have done their thing regardless and continued to grow and thrive. Their resilience is remarkable, and it seems they’re not that bothered about the weather after all.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for this human, and although this type of weather might be okay for crops, I would happily sacrifice some of the yield for a few more days sunshine.

Sunshine might be scarce, but other sources of joy are available – the amazing Sammi Kinghorn has shown humans can be every bit as tough and resilient as crops, winning four silver and one gold medal with a paralympic record in the 100 metres in her wheelchair in the Paralympics in Paris.

I know all at Middlethird farm in the Borders where she grew up couldn’t be more proud of her.