Harvest in England the second worst on record because of wet weather

Wheat haul in England estimated to be down by 21%, with Britain’s wine producers also hit hard

England has suffered its second worst harvest on record – with fears growing for next year – after heavy rain last winter hit production of key crops including wheat and oats.

The cold, damp weather, stretching from last autumn through this spring and early summer, has hit the rapidly developing UK wine industry particularly hard, with producers saying harvests are down by between 75% and a third, depending on the region.

On staple crops, England’s wheat haul is estimated to be 10m tonnes, or 21%, down on 2023, according to analysis of the latest government data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

Winter barley was 26% down on last year, and the winter oilseed rape harvest was down 32%, in data released by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on Thursday.

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% 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.”

He said record rains in September 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.

Colin Chappell, an arable farmer in Lincolnshire, said: “We are now on a knife-edge. Last week we had almost two inches of rain within 36 hours here and we’re not the worst off. Some farms in southern England have lost their crops for the second year in a row. Many will now be relying on spring wheat once again this year, which only produces about half as much as winter wheat.

“We’re getting into a situation where autumn planting is becoming unviable due to flooding and spring planting is risky because of drought.”

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.

The concern for staple crops comes as it emerged the British wine harvest could slump from last year’s cork-popping bumper crop to a light tipple 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.

Duncan Schwab, the head winemaker at Sandridge Barton, which has 16 hectares (40 acres) in south Devon, said he expected volumes to be 70% down on last year. He said many growers in the south-west had experienced similar problems. “It’s kind of hunt the grape out there,” he said.

Plumpton Wine Estate in Sussex said it was picking only half the amount harvested last year as it was “facing challenges with disease pressure due to constant rain”.

The mild, wet winter last year allowed diseases to thrive in vineyards and then heavy rains in April and May made it difficult to treat plants because equipment the boggy conditions limited use of heavy equipment. Schwab said the rain in early summer “caused havoc with flowering”.

Despite the problems, Schwab said wine prices were unlikely to rise as many wine makers would have stocks held over from last year’s record harvest, which would help iron out the ups and downs in supply.

Cover photo: By The Guardian