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Six months ago, Andrew Blenkiron, the farm manager at Euston Estate in Suffolk, Eastern England, was concerned about the lack of rain and its potential impact on crops. However, now he faces the opposite problem. The wet weather in July, which was the sixth-wettest on record, has compromised around 2,000 acres of wheat and barley on the 7,000-acre farm.
This year has been a year of extreme weather. February was the driest it had been in 30 years, while June was the hottest since records began in 1853. Unusually heavy rainfall followed in July and the first week of August.
While weather patterns have always influenced harvest success, farmers are finding it increasingly challenging to mitigate the risks posed by a more volatile climate. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, only 5% of cereal growing in Great Britain had been harvested as of August 8th, well below the five-year average of 36% at this stage. The high temperatures in early summer caused the grains to ripen earlier than usual, but the constant downpours meant they couldn’t be harvested due to the wet fields.
Moisture can cause the grain to soften and germinate, making it less suitable for making bread. This significantly reduces the value of the grain, forcing farmers to sell it as animal feed at a lower price. The cost of bread wheat in the first week of August was £248.50 per tonne, whereas animal feed wheat was priced at £187.60 per tonne.
Farmers are now largely dependent on the weather for successful harvests. In the past, weather accounted for 50% of farm operations, but now it makes up 80% according to Tom Bradshaw, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union.
To prevent further damage, some farmers have begun harvesting as soon as the rain stops, bringing in wet crops to dry indoors and preserve their quality. However, if the moisture level is above 15%, the wheat needs to go through a grain dryer, which can be costly. Other farmers have chosen to wait for more sunshine. Andrew Blenkiron, for example, paid £15 per tonne to remove 3% moisture from his grain, adding 10% to overall production costs.
While the UK relies on homegrown flour for approximately 80% of its bread production, the remaining flour is primarily imported from Germany, Canada, and France. However, these countries have also experienced compromised harvests due to the wet weather.
The concern now is whether enough domestically grown wheat will meet milling quality specifications. If it falls short, farmers may face penalties or rejection by buyers, resulting in extra cost for redirecting to the animal feed market.
Researchers suggest that farmers can mitigate the risk of drenched crops by choosing wheat varieties less likely to germinate prematurely. However, this solution would not have been considered during last year’s record-breaking heatwave.
The National Farmers’ Union has called on the government to invest in boosting homegrown food production in response to recent extreme weather events. They emphasize the importance of maintaining food security and avoiding a drop below the current 60% ratio of domestic food production to supply.
Farming Minister Mark Spencer assures that the government recognizes the significance of food security and is taking action to increase production and support farmers and food producers.
Andrew Blenkiron believes that farms should take action against climate change and has allocated 10% of the estate’s arable land for solar panels to reduce emissions. However, this decision leads to a decrease in food production. Finding a balance between low production costs and ensuring an adequate food supply is an ongoing challenge for Blenkiron and other farmers in the UK.
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