n By Hajera Blagg
It may seem like it’s always raining in Britain. But this year was decidedly different – the last 18 months have been the wettest since records began in 1836, with the Met Office reporting an astonishing 1,695.9mm of rainfall from October 2022 to March 2024.
It’s not been good news for British agriculture. A National Farmers Union (NFU) poll found more than 80 per cent respondents saying that their farms have suffered either ‘fairly negative’ or ‘very negative’ impacts from the unprecedented wet weather. A strong majority – 65 per cent – said they’ve seen declining profits, with many fearing their business may not survive.
Reports of record rainfall slashing yields at farms across the UK have mostly centred on the effects on farm owners – but what about farm workers? How have they coped during the UK’s wettest autumn and winter in nearly two centuries?
Unite rural and agricultural chair Steve Leniec, who works as a tractor driver, is among the many farm workers who are on the very frontline of this year’s relentless rain – and it hasn’t been easy.
Steve works on 750-acre farm comprising both dairy and arable land. When Landworker spoke to Steve, he and his colleagues were completing the silage harvest for the year.
“Around this time of year, we’re typically working 12-or 13-hour days, but the work has always been weather-dependent,” he explained. “Last week, since rain was forecast on Sunday, we worked from 7.30 am till nearly midnight to make sure we’d picked up all the grass that had been mowed the day before it was forecast to rain.”
While such long hours aren’t unusual, because of this year’s persistent rain, they’ve become more and more common.
“It’s the same story for farmworkers across the country, especially during the planting season,” he said. “The ground needs to be dry enough to plant so you need periodic spells of dry weather. In good years, you can get all your planting done in October
and then settle into a winter routine where you’re working reasonable hours.
“But since this October, the rain has been persistent. That has effectively put farm workers on standby, where any decent weather opportunity means working extremely long days and weekends. This also puts them under pressure to work quickly, and that’s when accidents happen.”
While the year can be written off as an exceptionally challenging one for a sector which has always had to contend with the vagaries of weather, there’s growing evidence that never- ending rain might be the new norm.
A recent study by World Weather Attribution group found that the UK’s extreme wet weather over the last year has been made 10 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.
The analysis showed that this year’s unprecedented levels of rainfall would have happened only every 50 years if it weren’t for human-caused climate change. But at the present rate of global heating, British farms can expect the same level of rainfall every five years.
A separate study by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit found that extreme wet weather could lead to farmers losing around £1.2bn in arable crops this year alone, compared to average production over the last decade.
Steve said the farm where he works has felt this year’s pain acutely – they were only able to plant about 50 per cent of the acreage they dedicate to winter wheat, which is their most profitable crop. A significant 20 per cent of their arable land was left fallow.
As weather becomes more extreme and unpredictable, many farmers are turning to government green schemes to make up for shortfalls in production. Under such schemes, farmers are, for example, paid to keep part of their land fallow, or to grow non-productive ‘cover crops’ to improve soil quality.
While Steve emphasised that such schemes are welcome, he worries
13 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2024
the impact an overreliance on them can have on overall food production, which could ultimately impact jobs.
“Before a new cap was introduced, I know of at least one farm local to me where the farmer took their entire land out of production and put it into these green schemes. This obviously affected jobs, because ‘cover crops’ require very little management.”
Steve also worries that the schemes are a short-term sticking plaster when long-term solutions are needed. “Taking large amounts of land out of production will ultimately impact food security in the UK, meaning we’ll have to be ever-more reliant on imports. With all the ‘food miles’ that entails, we’ll be effectively exporting our environmental responsibility.”
There are no easy solutions to the enormous climate challenges British agriculture faces. But Steve is hopeful that the industry – with workers and their unions like Unite at the table – can work together with government to carve out a viable future for the sector.
“A core government responsibility is domestic food security,” he said. “The government needs to give farmers the support and confidence that a year of really bad weather isn’t going to put them totally out of business.”
Steve highlighted the potential of regenerative farming, a conservation approach to agriculture that may make crops more resilient to climate change. He also emphasised the importance of research and development, which can, for example, investigate breeding new plant varieties more adaptable to extreme weather. New farming strategies such as planting earlier in the season can also play a part, Steve noted.
“Ultimately, British farming has always had to find ways to adapt, and this time will be no different. But the only way to harness that ingenuity is by giving the entire industry – including workers – the support and recognition that they need and deserve.”
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