British farmers are, of course, not the only people who are suffering from the effects of this summer’s heatwaves. Across Europe and the Middle East, record-breaking temperatures are threatening lives as well as livelihoods. France has experienced its largest wildfire since 1949, while across Europe an estimated 500,000 hectares of land have burned.
But farmers are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, which has a direct impact on crop yields. So reports of a second consecutive year in which food growers in parts of the UK are seeing dramatic falls in production should concern the British public. Access to food is frequently taken for granted in the world’s wealthiest nations. But increased food insecurity is among the dangerous effects of the climate crisis, as well as being worsened by Trump’s tariffs, and geopolitical instability including the war in Ukraine.
Last year the problem for British farmers was too much summer rain, leading to waterlogged fields and lost crops. This year the challenge has been the reverse: prolonged, intense hot weather, leading to large parts of England being declared officially in drought. Dramatic local and regional variations complicate the picture. While some farmers are warning of smaller vegetables in supermarkets following disappointing early harvests, others have fared quite well. It is too soon to draw firm conclusions or make decisive comparisons with previous years. What is already beyond doubt, however, is the immense challenge of adapting to an altered reality.
At a recent water summit hosted by the National Farmers’ Union, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, suggested that the government might support a change to planning rules, making it easier for farmers to build reservoirs on their land. Ministers should work with nature experts as well as farmers to develop this, and other proposals to boost resilience, in an environmentally responsible way. While tensions between the priorities of conservationists and farmers have not gone away, there is also common ground, for example around the need for stronger, long-term water infrastructure and flood risk planning. Last month a survey by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit found that more than 80% of UK farmers are worried about the climate crisis.
Such fears, along with falls in crop yields and incomes, also help explain the furious reaction to inheritance tax changes introduced last year by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, restricting an exemption for agricultural land. Last week the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation proposed amendments to the new rules that the Treasury should consider carefully. The chancellor is right to target wealthy, tax-avoiding landowners. But ministerial antagonism toward rural communities serves no purpose and only plays into the populist right’s hands.
While farmers are the first to register falling yields, and smaller heads of broccoli, the productivity and resilience of agricultural land affects everyone who is not insulated by wealth from higher food prices. Last month a thinktank, the Autonomy Institute, argued that the UK is particularly exposed to “climateflation” due to its heavy reliance on food imports. Extreme weather could drive up food prices by more than a third by 2050. With this in mind, the government should seek constructive engagement with farmers, while promoting healthy food policies.
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