Prolonged hot and dry weather is wreaking havoc on farmers with many expecting a reduced crop yield this year.
he ongoing heatwave has evaporated whatever moisture was left in the soil after last month’s warm spell which is preventing seeds from germinating and stunting growth.
It could result in some products, including vegetable oils, disappearing from supermarket shelves in the coming months.
Helen Keys (50) is a farmer based outside Cookstown in Co Tyrone and grows flax for its fibre which can be used as a substitute to fibreglass in musical instruments and surf boards.
She has noticed anomalies which she attributes to the impact of climate change.
“We are seeing it ripen a lot faster than we would expect,” she said. There’s a tradition that from planting to harvest it takes exactly 100 days, but it’s ready 14 days early.”
The premature crop means Helen and her husband Charlie will be out harvesting today to stop their tall crop withering in the heat and falling over.
Extremes in the weather also caused problems for the couple earlier in the year when heavy rainfall washed away seeds straight after they were planted.
“Weather events have always impacted farming, but we are seeing extremes become more common,” Helen said.
“It means we have to change how we do things to try and proof against the effects — that includes ploughing less and rotating crops to stabilise the soil.
“We are also having to store more water on the farm.”
Prolonged dry spells have resulted in the duo taking the unprecedented step of watering potatoes.
“We never used to have to do that, but the last three years we have,” Helen added.
“Because we are a small farm we can do that and set up tanks around the place, but bigger farms would find irrigation more challenging.”
Logistical problems posed by the early harvest can be overcome, but some of the consequences of the changing climate are beyond anyone’s control.
Helen has lost around 30% of her flax crop which went down after being drenched in heavy rain over the summer.
Like most farmers, she obsesses over the weather forecast and is concerned about the future.
“It’s really serious,” Helen warned. “We are supposed to have declared a climate emergency, but it doesn’t feel like an emergency.
“My mother-in-law is almost 90 and has lived on a farm her whole life. She is seeing things she’s never seen before, including autumn crops in August.”
Meanwhile David Sandford (71), who farms half of his 200 acre plot in Strangford, Co Down, is expecting a bumper harvest of spring barley next week.
“Weather conditions have been very good for me,” he said. It’s been sublime with some, but not too much, rain. Previous years have seen a bit of a drought in spring.
“This year I have a good crop and I’m relatively happy, provided the weather doesn’t break next week.”
Any heavy downpours over the next few days could prove costly for the pensioner who resumed farming upon his retirement.
“You can’t cut crops that aren’t ripe — the combine harvester won’t be able to separate the wheat,” David explained. “It has to be done at the optimum time. If you are a big enough arable farmer and have your own equipment you can afford to wait until the right time and maximise your return, but most people rely on contractors and they have clients to keep happy.”
Due to a global food crisis and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine grain prices remain high.
However David expects his profits will take a hit from increased planting and processing costs.
“The moisture level needs to be down to 15% to stop it going mouldy in storage and in normal times you would be paying £5 per percentage reduction — but it’s around £10 at the moment,” he said.
“In an average year you have to cut it from 18%”
The grain grower hopes to get the crop harvested, cut and put onto trailers without it getting wet.
“But you can get unlucky and lose a huge amount of profit,” David said. Over the last six years, four of them have seen the crop perform poorly as a direct result of extreme weather.
“There have been periods of drought in the spring and summer which meant the crop really suffered.
“This is the first year we have had constant weather.”
The passionate environmentalist warned that if nothing is done to tackle climate change then we will all pay the price in the not too distant future.
It comes as an official drought is declared in eight parts of England meaning residents in affected areas will see restrictions imposed on domestic and commercial water use.
Martin Lines, UK chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, warned vegetable growers are running out of water which could result in crops being lost.
The mixed farmer is currently unable to plant oil seed rape crops because it’s too dry.
“This could mean a further reduction in vegetable oil production next year,” Mr Lines said.
It won’t just be humans who notice the impact on their diets.
With many crops grown to feed winter birds dying off, the crisis will affect animals and have a ripple effect on a variety of complex eco-systems.
