More than 80% of UK farmers are worried that the “devastating” effect of the climate crisis could damage their ability to make a living, a study has found.
Farmers have warned that global heating risks Britain’s supplies of home-grown food amid wild swings in weather conditions, in new research carried out by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
The study found that 87% of farmers have experienced reduced productivity in the face of recent extreme weather, 84% had suffered a fall in crop yields, and more than three-quarters had taken a hit to their income.
The survey of 300 UK farmers found that, in the past five years, 78% of farmers had been hit by drought and more than half had suffered the consequences of heatwaves.
In stark contrast, just 2% of farmers had not experienced extreme weather in some form.
It comes as Britain’s largest retailers warned that food prices have been pushed up by hot weather hitting harvest yields. The British Retail Consortium trade body, representing more than 200 large UK retailers, has drawn a direct link between the climate crisis and prices for consumers.
Tom Lancaster, an analyst at the ECIU, said: “Farmers are on the frontline of climate change and this research reveals what impact that is having on them and their businesses.”
A recent study found that income from UK arable crops fell by more than £1bn last year, which was one of the worst in decades. Fears are now growing for the 2025 harvest after the warmest – and one of the driest – springs on record.
Anthony Curwen, an arable farmer from Kent, said: “It’s getting increasingly difficult to farm given the impacts we’re now seeing with climate change. We’ve gone from extreme drought to biblical floods and back to drought in the space of just a few years. It’s devastating and many of us in farming now fear for a sustainable future.”
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The government is facing pressure to offer greater support for farmers to adapt to the climate crisis. Nearly 60% of farmers have cited the need for greater long-term certainty in the design of green farming schemes across the UK.
Curwen added: “What we need most now from government is a bit of stability and some better support to help us become resilient to these impacts. In an era when the climate is giving us a kicking, we need government to have our back, not add to the uncertainty.”
