Latest news with #DeepingStNicholas
The Independent
07-08-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Dry summer boosts sunflower crop but varied weather ‘puts farms under pressure'
A sea of sunflowers has been helped by hot and dry conditions this summer but increasingly varied weather patterns are putting farms under pressure, a fifth-generation grower has said. Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas near Spalding in Lincolnshire grows the flowers for the seeds to be used in bird feed. Lucy Taylor, manager at the family firm, said there are around 1.5 million sunflower heads grown over an area the equivalent of 65 football pitches. The 47-year-old said: 'It's been a very dry year here, dry and hot especially in the early part of the summer, and that's really benefited our sunflower crop. 'Sunflowers are obviously more traditionally known for mainland Europe, southern France and that sort of area. 'The above average temperatures have certainly helped them mature earlier than they normally do.' But she continued: 'The last couple of years we've struggled with the wet, too much rain. 'I think what we're finding is – although Donald Trump may not agree with me – the weather patterns are becoming more varied.' Ms Taylor said the farm has crops that thrive in different conditions, such as wheat, barley, potatoes and sugar beet, so 'we're not just reliant on one product'. 'Farming's under a lot of pressure at the moment, not only from the politicians but due to the weather,' she said. 'We've got quite a diverse business here and I think every farm is going to have to diversify and become broader or specialise in what it does to make sure it's economically viable going forward.' Ms Taylor said around 100 people came on farm tours last weekend to see the sunflower fields. 'I think our sunflowers are a perfect example of how we've diversified and we've got a farm shop and cafe now and things like that,' she said. 'We've got solar panels on our shed roofs and things like that. 'It's that broad spectrum that I think will help farmers going forward. 'The weather's getting so unpredictable that we're going to have to have other revenue streams.' Ms Taylor continued: 'There's a lot of farms up for sale around here already, I think because of the poor weather conditions, because of the very wet weather conditions we've had in the last two years. 'I think there's a lot of challenges and the farming lifestyle isn't for everybody, it can be pretty hard and pretty lonely for a lot of farmers. 'It's not something everybody wants to go into. 'Round here locally we're seeing a lot of farms up for sale, because perhaps the next generation isn't interested, can't see the benefit, the financial rewards of farming.' She said she believed things could change in the coming years. 'Maybe potatoes will get grown further north in Scotland,' Ms Taylor said. 'The ability to water crops will become increasingly important in the future. 'Then obviously we've got the challenge of manual labour and mechanisation.' She added: 'The two biggest variables are the weather and the politicians.' The sunflowers, which have been in colour for around a fortnight, are normally harvested in October by combine harvester. 'We like to think they'll be right at the start of October this year, or maybe even late September,' Ms Taylor said. She explained that the reason for the sea of yellow is because they are being grown for seed, so need not be cut early. 'When you're cropping sunflowers for flowers you want them to look the best for the customer, not in your field, so they've already cut them before they become a beautiful sea of yellow,' Ms Taylor said. 'That's the advantage of growing them for the seed – we get to see the lovely sea of yellow.'
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dry summer boosts sunflower crop but varied weather ‘puts farms under pressure'
A sea of sunflowers has been helped by hot and dry conditions this summer but increasingly varied weather patterns are putting farms under pressure, a fifth-generation grower has said. Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas near Spalding in Lincolnshire grows the flowers for the seeds to be used in bird feed. Lucy Taylor, manager at the family firm, said there are around 1.5 million sunflower heads grown over an area the equivalent of 65 football pitches. The 47-year-old said: 'It's been a very dry year here, dry and hot especially in the early part of the summer, and that's really benefited our sunflower crop. 'Sunflowers are obviously more traditionally known for mainland Europe, southern France and that sort of area. 'The above average temperatures have certainly helped them mature earlier than they normally do.' But she continued: 'The last couple of years we've struggled with the wet, too much rain. 'I think what we're finding is – although Donald Trump may not agree with me – the weather patterns are becoming more varied.' Ms Taylor said the farm has crops that thrive in different conditions, such as wheat, barley, potatoes and sugar beet, so 'we're not just reliant on one product'. 'Farming's under a lot of pressure at the moment, not only from the politicians but due to the weather,' she said. 'We've got quite a diverse business here and I think every farm is going to have to diversify and become broader or specialise in what it does to make sure it's economically viable going forward.' Ms Taylor said around 100 people came on farm tours last weekend to see the sunflower fields. 'I think our sunflowers are a perfect example of how we've diversified and we've got a farm shop and cafe now and things like that,' she said. 'We've got solar panels on our shed roofs and things like that. 'It's that broad spectrum that I think will help farmers going forward. 'The weather's getting so unpredictable that we're going to have to have other revenue streams.' Ms Taylor continued: 'There's a lot of farms up for sale around here already, I think because of the poor weather conditions, because of the very wet weather conditions we've had in the last two years. 'I think there's a lot of challenges and the farming lifestyle isn't for everybody, it can be pretty hard and pretty lonely for a lot of farmers. 'It's not something everybody wants to go into. 'Round here locally we're seeing a lot of farms up for sale, because perhaps the next generation isn't interested, can't see the benefit, the financial rewards of farming.' She said she believed things could change in the coming years. 'Maybe potatoes will get grown further north in Scotland,' Ms Taylor said. 'The ability to water crops will become increasingly important in the future. 'Then obviously we've got the challenge of manual labour and mechanisation.' She added: 'The two biggest variables are the weather and the politicians.' The sunflowers, which have been in colour for around a fortnight, are normally harvested in October by combine harvester. 'We like to think they'll be right at the start of October this year, or maybe even late September,' Ms Taylor said. She explained that the reason for the sea of yellow is because they are being grown for seed, so need not be cut early. 'When you're cropping sunflowers for flowers you want them to look the best for the customer, not in your field, so they've already cut them before they become a beautiful sea of yellow,' Ms Taylor said. 'That's the advantage of growing them for the seed – we get to see the lovely sea of yellow.'
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Casualty star Amanda Mealing is handed a career lifeline after her cocaine-fuelled car crash left a nurse with life-changing injuries
Casualty star Amanda Mealing has been offered a lifeline back on to television screens following her cocaine-fuelled car crash that left a male nurse unconscious. The actress, 57, flew out to Malta earlier this month to film a special episode of Channel 5 drama Good Ship Murder alongside its stars Catherine Tyldesley, Shayne Ward and Ross Adams. The guest role comes after she admitted driving with cocaine in her system and driving without due care and attention following the crash close to her home in Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire, in January 2024. During the court hearing in March of this year, her solicitor revealed how she'd turned to cocaine while going through a divorce from film producer Richard Sainsbury, and dealing with the traumatic deaths of her father, her best friend and her dog. It was also revealed that since the crash, she had been diagnosed with blood cancer following a breast cancer battle decades earlier. She had taken the Class A drug the night before the smash and was driving home when her car drifted across the road and hit an oncoming Skoda driven by nurse Mark Le Sage, who was seriously injured and had to change his career as a result. Amanda - who played Connie Beauchamp on Casualty - was banned from driving for 28 months, reduced to 22 months as she had already served a six-month interim ban. She was also fined £485, and ordered to pay £400 costs and a surcharge of £194. She offered to pay at a rate of £100 a month, which was accepted by the court. A TV insider told MailOnline: 'Amanda is a phenomenal actress and has made many friends within the industry. 'Everyone has been rallying around her. She admitted what she did and opened up about what was going on in her life at the time. 'She is not a bad person and has been through a lot. She was already in talks about appearing on the murder mystery drama before the court case. 'And once it was all over, the little guest role gave her the life-line she very much needed. Good Ship Murder has become a huge hit for Channel 5 and features different guest stars each week. The third series is currently being filmed and will hit our TV screens next year. It will also include guest appearances from Birds of a Feather legends Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph. Since leaving Casualty in 2021, Amanda has been moving from acting into directing, including for an episode of the BBC TV series Waterloo Road. In 2002, Amanda was diagnosed with breast cancer, just 24 hours after giving birth to her second son, Otis. Her older son, Milo, was three at the time. She had been aware of a small lump in her breast when pregnant, but ignored it. She said: 'I definitely thought it could have been mastitis. But a large part of it was that ridiculous thing where I thought, 'If I don't go to the GP, they can't tell me it's breast cancer and therefore I can pretend it's no'. But if I'd done something about it at the time, I may not have had to endure what I did. It's ridiculous. I played with my life. I gambled. 'It must have been three months. And it went from being a pea-sized lump to a mass. It was huge. 'I remember seeing the mass when I had my ultrasound and I knew. It was like the air just went out of me. I got very angry at the cancer. I thought, 'How dare you do this to me when my newborn baby is just hours old? I won't let it happen'.' She had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Five years after she had completed her treatment she was diagnosed with PTSD. Her sister in law and a close friend, both diagnosed with breast cancer at around the same time, did not survive. Amanda has undergone therapy to cope with survivor's guilt, which led to panic attacks and depression.
