Farming champion warns the summer’s ‘bad harvest’ will have longer-term impact

Bad harvests during hotter summer months will have a knock on effect for farmers, Doncaster’s new farming and nature recovery champion has said.

Councillor William Shaw, who owns a farm near Denaby, revealed a lot of his crop, and that of many farmers in Britain, has “died off” in recent months, warning the impact could carry over well into next year.

The Reform UK councillor said: “Because it’s staying dry, you can’t start the process for next year’s harvest yet, like you normally would.

“Some farmers are going into winter stores already to feed cows.”

Bad harvests will then affect a farmer’s cashflow, Coun Shaw said, affecting the purchase of fertiliser and other important resources for the new crop cycle.

The experienced farmer was recently appointed as the City of Doncaster Council’s farming and nature recovery champion by the Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones.

Coun Shaw was the first cross-party appointment made by the Mayor since the 2025 local elections, previously having opted for former Labour colleague, Mark Houlbrook, to be the armed forces champion.

“I wrote to her [Jones] asking her to consider me. To use my knowledge and expertise,” he explained of the appointment process, adding that Jones was “more than happy” to appoint him.

Coun Shaw has immediately got to work and is making the case that Doncaster’s “nature recovery” must start with the smallest details.

“Insects underpin everything. Everyone knows that pollinators are critical to our planet. Between 75 and 85 per cent of all flowering plants on earth need pollinators,” he said.

The Conisbrough ward representative explained insects are also the critical item at the bottom of local food chains.

He said: “We all love to see birds about, but there has been a decline in many species. There are many reasons such as habitat loss, disease, a changing climate. But a key point that is overlooked is insect loss.

“Over 90 per cent of birds feed insects to their young. So, with less insects there is less food for young birds which makes survival harder.

“There are also 22 species of small mammals in the UK that eat insects as the main part of their diet, including bats and shrews.

“Other small mammals such as mice and voles eat insects as part of their mixed diet. So, like with the birds, less insects means fewer small mammals. This in turn means less of the creatures that prey on the mammals.”

Coun Shaw said it was evident that the “climate is changing”, and it is having an impact on crops and farmers.

But he said he wasn’t concerned about the recent decision in the council chamber to revoke a ‘climate emergency’ declared in 2019, a vote Coun Shaw was not able to attend.

He said: “Both having it and getting rid of it hasn’t achieved anything. Reading the motion that Cynthia [Ransome] put in, it says it doesn’t change anything.”

The decision to revoke Doncaster’s climate emergency, put forward by the Conservative councillor Cynthia Ransome at the July 2026 meeting of full council, makes clear that the authority’s statutory climate obligations are not affected.