Wheat haul in England estimated to be down by 21 per cent while Britain’s wine producers are also hit hard, stated recent reports, amid calls by experts to support more sustainable farming.
According to analysis of the latest government data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), England’s wheat haul is estimated to be 10m tonnes, or 21 per cent down on 2023.
The ECIU estimates that farmers could lose £600m on five key crops – wheat, winter and spring barley, oats and oilseed rape – where production was down 15 per cent in total.
Tom Lancaster, a land, food and farming analyst at the ECIU, said, “This year’s harvest was a shocker, and climate change is to blame. While shoppers have been partly insulated by imports picking up some of the slack, Britain’s farmers have borne the brunt of the second worst harvest on record.
“It is clear that climate change is the biggest threat to UK food security. And these impacts are only going to get worse until we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”
Lancaster also called on the government to use this month’s budget to support more sustainable farming that would build resilience to the extreme weather the UK is now encountering.
“The alternative is to allow the effects of these climate impacts to worsen in the years ahead,” he said.
Record rains in September are blamed as they got the new season off to a poor start, forcing farmers to hold off on planting in some parts of the country and losing out on the more productive winter harvest by having to wait until the spring.
Another analysis by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs stated today (10) that winter barley was 26 per cent down on last year, and the winter oilseed rape harvest was down 32 per cent.
The data comes amid rising concern that British wine harvest could slump from last year’s cork-popping bumper crop as the cold, wet summer has led to problems with mould, disease and fewer grapes on vines.
Several independent growers told the Guardian it had been a “challenging season”, with vineyards in the south-west and north of England and parts of Wales particularly hard hit.
