By Minette Batters,

NFU President

IT is well known that if there is one thing farmers like to grumble about, it is the weather. It’s possibly not so well known that there is a very good reason for this.

For most of us if it gets a bit hot, we can just turn the air conditioning up and carry on.

Those of us out in the fields in all weathers do not have that luxury and thus take a keener interest in the forecast than most.

And I have to say that 2018 has provided more weather-related problems than we’ve had for a long time.

This year we have had a long, wet spring, with snow causing disruption for many.

This has been followed by a long spell of hot, dry weather, and many parts of England and Wales haven’t seen significant rain since May.

The lack of grass means livestock and dairy farmers are being forced to use their winter fodder to feed animals now, which will lead to a shortage later in the year.

Cows can get stressed in the heat which means they give less milk and that also has an impact on cash flow.

One dairy farmer told me he thought the heatwave had cost him at least £60,000.

At our recent drought summit, Environment Secretary Michael Gove heard first-hand from NFU farm leaders about the serious impacts the weather is having.

The summit called for: support for the logistics of transporting fodder and straw to areas where there are shortages; the speeding up of BPS and Countryside Stewardship payments already owed to farm businesses and more flexibility around the use of water for farmers and growers, including the ability to trade water between farms.

This unprecedented spell of weather is a timely reminder we shouldn’t take food production for granted.