Comment – Fill Your Tanks

Does anyone remember having a conversation (in my case with my grandfather) about the prospect of rain, which goes something like this.. “I don’t know whether to take my coat with me or not?” We all know the answer, if you don’t, it’s bound to rain, if you do, it won’t!

In the same vein, one of the oil tanks is about 30% full, and whilst we can bumble along for a month or so longer before senior management gets twitchy about heating the house, I think it needs filling, so having kept a weather eye on matters in the Middle East, I think its time to get it done.

I’m not expecting this comment to start a run on oil, but its interesting to watch the uptick in the price of crude and the £40 a tonne uplift in fertiliser this week, to add to business costs. If you are interested, the chart with this piece came from here. I went looking for a long term view to get some reassurance (in this case over 10 years) that whilst the oil price is on the upward trajectory, its not into the territory we saw in the spring of ’22.

I was rather sad to miss the Royal Highland Show this week, which by all accounts (and no doubt helped by the weather) was a well attended do. Certainly judging by various accounts and some social media stalking, it was enjoyed by many. Still, I’ve got my tent out ready for Groundswell in the next couple of weeks and some regenerative immersion!

Sentiment is all when it comes to the market and I wondered how US farmers felt at the moment, imagine my surprise when I read this recent piece!

Today is the longest day, the temperature is dropping and the heavens have opened, what does farming folklore predict for the next six months on that basis?

Have a good week.

Andy