AN event that showcases the latest in grass-cutting equipment for farmers has become the latest victim of this year's record cold spring.
Organisers of Scotgrass, due to be staged next month, have pulled the plug because not enough grass will have grown by the time it is to be open.
The event requires a good covering of grass to allow demonstrations of mowing machines, but this year's crop has been stunted by the weather.
Hugh McClymont, who was due to host the show at his farm in Crichton Royal, Dumfries, said his fields there were bare.
He said: "It was a very difficult decision to make and not one to be taken lightly but no-one would have been able to demonstrate the grass-cutting machinery when there isn't any grass. There hasn't been enough growth. The soils are too cold. It's the latest spring we've ever seen and the worst in the 30 years I've been here."
Mr McClymont said it was unlikely a new venue would be found in time for the event to go ahead as scheduled on May 14.
Event organiser Duncan Russell said he was "hugely disappointed" to cancel but had been left with no option. He said: "There's just simply a lack of grass this year and its not grown since last summer. Just talking to the host farmer confirmed that we couldn't go ahead.
"It wouldn't be ready until the end of May or the start of June, and by that point there are other agricultural events coming up so we will not be reorganising it. It's very disappointing because a lot of work has gone into it. But without grass we can't go ahead."
The freezing conditions at the start of the year have also left Scotland's farmers counting the cost, with experts saying some may lose up to £16,000 from last month's heavy snow and ice-cold winds.
Livestock on farms across Scotland were lost due to the cold weather, and the financial consequences are beginning to emerge.
With figures for national losses still to be calculated, John Forster, an agricultural consultant with the Scottish Agricultural Colleges, said some of the worst-hit farmers could face losing thousands of pounds.
He said: "Sheep farmers will be hit especially. Although no- one knows the true cost of the weather, hill farmers might be losing up to 200 ewes, which is 200 lambs and at £80 each, that could be £16,000, which is quite catastrophic."
He added: "Dairy farmers have also been hit, due to road blockages. This means some distributors have not been able to get to farms, which means this milk has gone to waste – which costs the farmers.
"It caused mayhem. Between road blocks, electricity and the loss of sheep for hill farmers."
A spokeswoman for the Met Office said although there were no spring heatwaves on the horizon, temperatures in Scotland were expected to become significantly milder over the next two weeks. She said: "We'll see a bit of a change from Monday. We're forecasting rain on Sunday and Monday coming, with quite windy conditions in the west of Scotland, but once that passes we're going to see a gradual return to average conditions for this time of year."
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