UK
Farmers warn of first year without harvest since Second World War

Emma Gatten
9 April 2024·

Record rainfall has meant that a lot of farmland is still under water, as on this farm near Bangor-on-Dee, Wales - Andrew McCoy /Getty Images

Farmers are warning of food shortages as record rainfall threatens to bring the first season without a harvest on some farms since the end of the Second World War.

Vast swathes of farmland are still under water following an unprecedented period of flooding, with 11 named storms since September and the wettest 18 months on record.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has predicted that wheat yields will be down 15 per cent, winter barley down 22 per cent and oilseed rape down 28 per cent – the biggest drop since the 1980s.

Joe Stanley, an arable and livestock farmer at a research farm in Leicestershire, said he and his colleagues were facing the first year without a harvest since the land was first farmed after the war.

“Unless it basically stops raining today and then it becomes nice and sunny and windy, we’re not going to get any crops in this year. That’s a real danger,” he said. “Many farmers will be in the same situation.”

Waterlogged fields at a farm near Outwell, in Norfolk, earlier this month - Getty Images/Martin Pope

Farmers are also facing the prospect that crops planted during the autumn will not have survived the flooding brought by repeated storms, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said.

It warned that households could feel the effects of low crop yields and reduced lamb numbers, because many lambs have not survived the unseasonably cold temperatures and heavy rainfall.

“It’s no exaggeration to say a crisis is building,” said Rachel Hallos, the NFU vice president. “While farmers are bearing the brunt of it now, consumers may well see the effects through the year as produce simply doesn’t leave the farm gate.”

She added that the situation was a “growing issue for UK food security”, and welcomed a new fund for farmers affected by flooding.

Mr Stanley said farms were facing “an existential moment” because of the changing climate, which could put many out of business, reducing UK food security.

“The problem that we’re facing is that weather is becoming so extreme that it is overwhelming our ability as farmers to continue to grow crops at all in some places,” he said.

Mark Chatterton, a director at business advisers Duncan & Toplis, has estimated that the impact on farm businesses could be significantly worse than the 2019 floods, which led to an 18 per cent reduction in profits.

Farms in areas around the Midlands and the South West hit by Storm Henk in January will be able to claim grants of between £500 and £25,000 under the new fund, three months after it was first announced.

Mark Spencer, the farming minister, said: “I know how difficult this winter has been for farmers, with extreme weather such as Storm Henk having a devastating impact on both cropping and grazing, as well as damaging property and equipment.

“The Farming Recovery Fund will support farmers who suffered uninsurable damage with grants of up to £25,000, and sits alongside broader support in our farming schemes to improve flood resilience.”