Farmers urge Government to help with water shortages

Yorkshire is one of the few parts of the country not in drought, but the hottest July on record has meant that less than a millimetre of rain has fallen in the last month across much of the region.

Farmers have urged the Government to streamline the planning system to allow on-farm reservoirs to be built faster and help tackle the extremely dry weather.

Yorkshire is one of the few parts of the country not in drought, but the hottest July on record has meant that less than a millimetre of rain has fallen in the last month across much of the region.

The British Growers Association has said that broccoli and pea yields are down by around 50 per cent, with farmers who are unable to irrigate being hit hardest.

John Walgate, the BGA’s CEO, said: “In the UK right now, there isn't a shortage of water; there’s a shortage of water management.

“Just months ago we were talking about flooding. Now crops are failing in the heat because we have nowhere to store the winter rain.

The fix is on-farm reservoirs, allowing growers to capture water in winter to use in summer.

In the UK, we need around 300 reservoirs, and we are currently building five.

“But right now the planning and licensing process makes this nearly impossible.”

Mr Walgate said that one of his members waited more than a year for a licence after getting planning permission, while another scrapped the project as the survey costs were a quarter of the total build spend.

“We need three things: simpler planning, faster rights to fill reservoirs, and financial support for this infrastructure.

“We need to recognise that our farmland is the most crucial infrastructure for our national security. Planning laws, policy and funding needs to reflect that."

This was backed up by the National Farmers’ Union, with president Tom Bradshaw explaining: “This is one of the most severe droughts many farmers and growers have lived through.

“Harvest yields are looking poor, farmers are struggling to access water to irrigate fruit and vegetables, and livestock farmers are having to use grass they cut this spring for their stores of winter feed for cattle as there's very little grass growing now.

“If this summer teaches us anything, it is that we must prioritise food production.

“Central to this will be fast tracking investment and planning changes meaning we can build new reservoirs on farm.

“We need a common sense approach to water use, with water access prioritised for livestock, particularly poultry and pigs.

“More flexible abstraction rules are also needed so farmers can access water for irrigation. This would enable us to grow more of the food we can and should produce here ourselves, especially fruit and vegetables.”

Praveena Sridhar, the chief technical officer at the Save Soil movement, said the key to balancing extreme weather was soil health.

“Healthy soils absorb and store water. Water sitting on top of healthy soil during the rain gets absorbed slowly and retains the soil moisture within it - which is usually the lifeline water for crops during drought. Unhealthy soils, devoid of organic matter, dry up, crack and harden,” she said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson told reporters earlier in the week: “Food security is national security, which is why we’re working closely with farmers, the environment agency and the water sector to manage the impacts of this exceptionally dry weather.

“We recognise the pressures farmers are facing, that’s why we’re investing in long-term water resilience, supporting on-farm water security and backing British food production.”