Persistent rain risks rotting British crops and threatens potato, salad and grain supplies, farmers have warned.
Providing food produce will become increasingly difficult without improved water drainage and storage, as farmers grapple with wetter winters, followed by dry summers.
And the record levels of rain in parts of the UK seen during the first weeks of 2026 are putting the British agricultural sector under strain just as spring crops are due to be planted.
Farmers and landowners have issued warnings to the government about the impact of flooded or sodden land on their ability to grow food supplies and livestock feed.
Ongoing downpours have left arable farmers unable to feed crops that are in the ground and may prevent them from planting new ones.
Flood alerts have been in place across the country this week due to continued wet weather, after Storm Chandra contributed to record rainfall in parts of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland in the first weeks of the year.
The storm brought significant flooding, with some farmers warning that up to 90 per cent of their land was submerged and crops days away from rotting.
Martin Lines, the head of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said if the wet weather continues for “another month or so” there will be serious concerns about crop supplies this year.
“What we’ll find is that the growing period has become shorter, so the quantity and quality of what we are able to produce may be different,” Mr Lines, an arable farmer, told The i Paper.
A warm winter has meant autumn crops are still growing and now would be the time for farmers to apply nutrients to the soil, but they are unable to due to flooding, he said.
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“The next month is the ideal time to get spring crops established, but we’re far too wet to even get out in the fields,” he added, explaining that at this time of year farmers would usually be preparing the ground to plant barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes and salad crops.
“The longer this wet weather stays, and fields take time to recover, the later our planting season will become, and that means poor harvest later in the season,” he added.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmer’s Union, said there is a risk of crops beginning to rot if the water is not cleared soon.
“Many fields have been submerged for nearly two weeks, and if this continues, arable farmers face a real risk of crops beginning to rot in the ground,” he said.
“The core focus for livestock farmers will be the welfare of any animals impacted and then getting that water off the land as quickly as possible and pumping stations are operating where they can.”
He said the wet weather highlights the need for investment in agricultural water infrastructure.
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Gavin Lane, the president of the Country, Land and Business Association, said the government must support farmers to have better drainage systems to help during wet seasons and water storage which can then be relied upon during dry summers.
“The volatility in the last few years has been unprecedented with records being broken year on year and the effects of climate change making farming more challenging,” he told The i Paper.
“We know farmers are adaptable but they need the support of government to mitigate the effects of these changes with the building of more on-farm reservoirs, investment in drainage and flood protection measures.”
A spokesman for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said it recognises “how hard flooding can be for farmers” and it is looking at how it “can best support rural communities”.
They explained this included the Floods minister Emma Hardy speaking with farmers in Somerset this week after flood warnings were issued in the area.
They added: “Increased funding is already going to internal drainage boards (IDBs), the public bodies responsible for managing water levels for agricultural and environmental needs in a particular area.
“Our farming schemes are also helping the sector build greater resilience to climate shocks with the Floods Resilience Taskforce looking at practical action against extreme weather.”
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