Weather dealt a £1.19bn blow to crops revenues

UK farmers lost £1.19bn in income from arable crops last year following the extreme wet and stormy weather, official figures show.

- EMILY BEAMENT and REBECCA SPEARE-COLE Reporters

The Environment Department's (Defra) farmer income figures, released on Thursday, showed that while the overall UK farm income was up from £6.lbn to £7.7bn between 2023 and 2024, income from the main arable crops fell by £1.19bn.

This was driven by significant drop from barley, wheat, barley and oilseed rape, albeit slightly offset by gains from potatoes, according to an analysis of the figures by the the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank. The falling incomes can be attributed to the third-worst harvest on record last year, caused by wet weather in key planting periods, as well as the ongoing fall in cereal and oilseed prices following the peaks of 2022.

It comes amid warnings that farmers could be facing another terrible harvest this year following the hottest spring on record and the driest conditions in decades.

The ECIU said climate change is already having a “devastating” impact on farmers, food security and shopping bills, and the recent extremes of heat will continue to have a negative impact on harvests.