Has autumn come early - ask AI?

I've heard a lot about autumn coming early, and I've seen it with my own eyes. I live in a small village in North Yorkshire, and I'm used to seeing farmers come and go with their tractors, bailers, sprayers and so on. One local farmer has the letters "COW" in his number plate. On a weekend walk, I came across a field full of broad beans that had not been harvested, they looked ravaged by drought. I've seen this a lot on local farms especially when the crop is broad beans. As I use AI a lot in my IT job I thought I'd ask AI (Copilot) if autumn was early.

It did this blazingly fast by the way, in seconds. No longer had the question been typed in and ... boom the reply came back. It has collated various articles from different sources. Later on I asked AI how it was able to do this, and the answer in short - it's damn fast at searching, collating and responding.

This is what it came up with. It's an interesting summation of varied opinions. It offers - to me - a well rounded view of the current situation.

---------------------------------------------- AI response ------------------------------------------------------- Q: Has autumn arrived early, and what does this mean for UK farmers? It certainly feels like autumn has jumped the queue this year—and UK farmers are seeing the effects firsthand.

🍂 Early Autumn 2025: What’s Happening

• Unseasonably dry spring and early summer accelerated crop maturation across the UK.

• Farmers began harvesting weeks earlier, some combining wheat and barley as early as late June.

• In Northumberland, harvest wrapped up by 7 August, the earliest finish in 50 years.

🌾 PROS for UK Farmers

• Fewer weather delays: Early harvests dodged the usual August rains.

• Moisture control: Some crops like oilseed rape came in with ideal moisture levels (6.5–7.5%).

• Early market entry: Grain entered commodity markets sooner, which can offer pricing advantages.

🌾 CONS for UK Farmers

• Lower yields: Heat stress and drought reduced growing time, especially on sandy soils.

• Some crops - like the field of broad beans I saw - were wiped out by drought.

• Variable quality: Protein levels in wheat and grain weight have suffered.

• Labour and logistics: Contractors weren’t ready, and early starts were made to preserve quality.

🔍 Bigger Picture

• Climate change is reshaping the UK’s growing cycle.

• Warmer springs and erratic rainfall are becoming the norm.

• The AHDB warned that 2025 could be one of the worst if conditions don’t improve.

• Farmers adapt with regenerative practices, drought-tolerant crops, and new planting strategies.

Earlier then usual