A Dunsby farmer is preparing for significant crop losses due to flooding caused by a damaged drain bank that remains unrepaired.
Dunsby: So, there’s this farmer named Ben Atkinson who’s really worried about his crops. He’s looking at losing a huge chunk of his land because of flooding. It all started when the South Forty Foot Drain overflowed due to a damaged bank.
Ben’s fields, about 200 to 240 acres of cereal crops, got hit hard after the heavy rains. He’s pretty upset because he thinks this could have been avoided if the Black Sluice Pumping Station was still running. It was shut down a while back after a study, and now he’s feeling the pinch.
He’s not alone in this; other farmers and the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board share his frustration. They believe that if the pumping station was operational, the flooding wouldn’t have been so bad. The bank was damaged during Storm Henk last year, and despite promises from the Environment Agency to fix it, nothing has happened yet.
Now, repairs are pushed back to spring, and Ben is worried. He mentioned that January and February are usually the wettest months, and he’s right to be concerned. The flooding has already messed up the drainage network, and he’s got winter wheat and barley planted, which could be in serious trouble.
He’s been told that the longer the crops sit in water, the worse it gets. The Black Sluice IDB’s pumps are finally running again, but it’s a race against time. Ben said that while some crops might survive, the damage could still be significant.
He’s also been brainstorming with others about how to prevent this from happening again. They’ve suggested bringing back the pumps at the Black Sluice Pumping Station and even replacing some old structures to help manage the water better. But it seems like their ideas haven’t really been taken seriously.
Ben is worried about the future, especially with climate change making things unpredictable. He’s asked the Environment Agency to revisit their models because the current ones don’t seem to account for the rapid changes in weather patterns. He’s got a point; things are getting more extreme, and it’s affecting livelihoods.
In the end, Ben just wants to protect his land and his crops. He’s hoping for some action soon because the stakes are high, and he’s not the only one affected by this situation.
