Almost three-quarters of England is in drought as record-low rainfall and unusually high temperatures put farmers under severe pressure. England and Wales had their driest July since records began in 1836, with some areas receiving barely a tenth of their usual monthly rain.
The current crisis is the third drought in five years and the second consecutive drought, according to the National Drought Group’s chair, Helen Wakeham, who described it as an “exceptionally serious situation” with long-lasting impacts. Farmers are harvesting earlier, facing lower yields and seeking better drought-resistant crops and water-storage options.
What the drought is doing to farms
At Manor Farm in Caxton, near Cambridge, farmer Tom Pearson found cracks in soil beneath a recently harvested oat crop. A cover crop intended to protect the soil did not establish before the early heat arrived. Pearson said his yields have fallen for a third consecutive year, despite 11 years of work to improve the farm’s resilience.
Jamie Burrows, chair of the National Farmers’ Union’s Combinable Crops Board, said more than half of the winter wheat crop had been harvested before the end of July, reflecting the difficult growing season for arable farmers.
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Farmers are testing different ways to adapt
Pearson has moved towards regenerative methods, including no-till farming and sharply reduced chemical inputs. He also planted small plots of ancient grain varieties, including einkorn and emmer, sourced from seed banks in the United States, Poland, the Czech Republic and the John Innes Centre in Norwich. Their deeper roots and history of growing in drier conditions may make them suited to this season, although Pearson said the rest of his farm was still being hit hard.
Pearson said reduced tillage uses half the diesel of a conventional farm, but the savings have not offset three years of poor harvests. He said healthier soil and lower input costs can improve resilience, while warning that even well-managed soil may not withstand an extreme weather event of this scale.
Why the financial risk is spreading
Farmers entered the growing season after fuel and fertiliser prices rose in spring following United States and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February that closed the Strait of Hormuz and disrupted global energy and fertiliser markets. Drought arrived soon after seeding, adding weather pressure to already higher costs.
A study led by insurance risk specialist Rowan Douglas and published in May 2025 by the European Investment Bank and European Commission estimated that extreme-weather losses in the European Union average 28 billion euros ($32bn) a year and could rise to 40 billion euros ($46bn) by 2050. About 80 percent of that risk is uninsured. The study did not cover the UK, which has no comprehensive national crop-insurance scheme.
What farmers want from government
Burrows called for investment in crop varieties bred for drought and disease resistance, as well as a planning system that makes it easier to build on-farm water storage. Pearson said farmers also need more knowledge and data about nutritional benefits and which crop varieties can withstand increasingly difficult conditions.
Douglas said the UK should first quantify its agricultural financial risk. He also highlighted the challenge of deciding how the growing burden should be shared between farmers and the people who benefit from the food they produce.
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