Agricultural community call on Government for action following effects of recent drought
Farmers and growers from South Holland had their concerns heard at national level on Wednesday (August 1), following the impact of the recent drought.
NFU (National Farmers' Union) policy experts and commodity board chairmen held a summit at their London office with representatives from other farming organisations, Defra, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
Alison Pratt, NFU’s regional communications’ adviser said; “The summit was a really high profile way of getting the issues that farmers are facing out into the wider world.
"The hot and dry weather has impacted on every sector of farming and horticulture and with no mention of a break in the weather in the long-range forecasts.
"We’re facing unprecedented conditions that will have long and lasting effects on our industry.
“A useful outcome of the summit is the Environment Agency’s agreement to allow some flexibility on water abstraction licencing, whether that’s water trading from farmer to farmer within the same groundwater source, or perhaps some extra abstraction volumes on existing licences where the threshold has been reached.
"All circumstances will be treated on a case by case basis, so growers looking for more water must talk to the Environment Agency in the first instance to see what is possible.
“The other issues, facing livestock and dairy farmers are the future availability of fodder for winter feed and the increases they will face in costs for feed of all types.
"We’re urging farmers to help their fellow farmers and where possible, bale straw behind the combine this harvest, rather than chop it.
"NFU’s Fodder Bank is open and available to list stocks of fodder from the arable areas of the country so that livestock producers can access supplies in readiness for what will be a very difficult winter.
“The current agricultural drought brings the issue of food supply and market volatility into sharp focus, not to mention the availability of water for food production.
"The drought summit should act as a wake-up call to Government and farming’s customers that the production of high quality, sustainable British food from British farms is vital for the economy, the environment and for farming’s sustainable future.”
