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Continued drought could cause shortage of some foods, farmers' union head says

Zoie O'Brienand
Henry Moore
News imagePA An overhead shot showing a patchwork of brown, dried out fields in Northamptonshire.PA
Parched fields and meadows in Finedon, Northamptonshire

There could be a shortage of certain food products if the current drought conditions continue, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has warned.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said yields of wheat and oats were "very, very poor" this year and warned livestock farmers have had to use their winter feed rations because they have been unable to grow grass.

Drought has been declared across large parts of England and the whole of Wales as successive heatwaves left water supplies under strain, with more than 20 million people now under hosepipe bans.

Amber heat health alerts have also been issued for large parts of England, including the Midlands, the south-east and south-west of England, until Wednesday.

Bradshaw told the BBC that high temperatures and drought conditions had placed all areas of farming under increasing pressure.

Vegetable producers, he said, are running low on water, reducing the amount of food produced in the UK and increasing the cost it takes to grow it.

"We have to recognise that water security is a critical part of our food security and food security is our national security."

He called on the government to invest more heavily in reservoirs, saying too much water that could be collected during winter is instead pumped out into the North Sea.

"We can't change what's happening at the moment, there is no water in our rivers, but we must use this to take action for the future," he said.

News imageMap of England and Wales showing which regions are in drought (dark brown), prolonged dry weather (light brown) and normal (white). The English regions in drought are: East Anglia; Hertfordshire and the whole of London; Thames Valley; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Devon and Cornwall; the West Midlands; and Wessex, covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and South Gloucestershire. The rest of south-east England, central England and north-west England is in prolonged dry weather conditions. Only north-eastern areas of England are in normal conditions. All of Wales is in drought.

He suggested farmers should be given tax breaks to build water storage systems to prepare for the years ahead.

"We have taken our food supply for granted for far too long," he added.

"Those other countries around the world that we currently rely on to produce our food and vegetables, their climates are changing as well.

"It does feel like there is going be some shortages of [food] products", Bradshaw told Radio 4's Broadcasting House.

In a message to Prime Minister Andy Burnham he said: "Let's draw a line in the sand and make sure we prioritise domestic food production to deliver growth across the UK."

Alongside a lack of rain, a series of heatwaves have also hit the UK this summer - with heat health alerts currently in place across England and Wales.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber heat health alerts for the East Midlands, East of England, London and the south-east from 09:00 BST on 2 August until 09:00 BST on 5 August.

Yellow alerts are also in place for North West, Yorkshire, West Midlands and the South West for the same period.

The Met Office reports that England saw just 5.6mm of rainfall up to 30 July – just 8% of its long-term meteorological average for the month and less than half of the previous record of 13.4mm set in 1911.

For Wales it was 7.9mm of rainfall, also 8% of its long-term average for the month and almost a third of the previous record of 22.6mm, again set in 1911.