My office

For those of you in my old office back in the moredun institute I thought I would let you look at the office I run around in these days. Its pretty bloody dry out here. There has been a drought for the last 4 years and it literally hasn't rained in that time. The ground is all like this with no cover at all so that if it does come it will wash away all the top soil in a very short period. I might see this as they are predicting high rainfall in the next few weeks.
Farmers are investing in high tech means to get the best out of the water. I was shown around a maize farm where they run pipes under the plant lines to water the soil from below. Tissue and soil sampling allows control of rates and fertiliser application through the same system. Those farmers that aren't will probably have no crop to sell.
Cattle farmers don't have the same options in water control and feed is very scarce so prices are down and farmers are reluctant to get the vet out (the same story as home really). However soil appears to make up a lot of the faecal content here as grazing is right down to the soil. Even the horses are grazing bare paddocks and sand colic is a real possibility.