Farmers across the UK’s driest regions are confronting one of their most daunting harvest seasons in living memory, as an unrelenting heatwave continues to batter crops and squeeze vegetable yields. The impact is particularly stark for broccoli growers, who report yields cut by more than half and warn that shoppers should brace themselves for smaller, less uniform vegetables on supermarket shelves this summer.
According to the BBC, the combination of bone-dry soils and a persistent lack of rainfall has left growers in places like Herefordshire facing some of their worst ever returns. Ben Andrews, who operates a mixed organic farm near Leominster, Herefordshire, described the situation bluntly: “You’ll be looking at maybe not quite as much availability and maybe needing to accept smaller heads of broccoli or lettuce or cabbage. I’m not sure quite about shelves being empty, but if this continues it’s not completely impossible.”
Andrews’s warning isn’t just about size. The quality of the vegetables is also suffering, and the problems aren’t limited to the UK’s borders. “It’s also too hot for brassicas to be grown abroad and imported to the UK, potentially causing shortages,” he explained to the BBC. With high temperatures stretching across Europe, the usual safety net of imports may not be available if the hot, dry weather drags on.
The British Growers Association (BGA), which represents the interests of vegetable producers nationwide, confirmed that the supplies of brassicas—including broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage—are “tight.” However, the association’s chief executive, Jack Ward, tried to reassure consumers that better harvests in the wetter regions of the UK should keep vegetables in the shops. “In some areas, supplies of summer brassicas, cauliflowers and cabbages are tight. Other root crops, carrots and onions have been kept going by the use of irrigation, but there are serious concerns about water supplies if the lack of rain continues,” Ward told the BBC. “At this stage, we are confident that the crops will be there, but the weather events of the last three months highlight the increasing uncertainty around our food supplies.”
It’s not just vegetable growers who are feeling the heat. Arable farmers, who grow cereals and root crops, are also reporting calamitous drops in production. Martin Williams, an arable farmer and chairman of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Herefordshire branch, has seen a 50% drop in his cereal yield, predicts only a third of his usual potato crop, and has recorded a staggering 70% reduction in the grass grown for animal feed. “Conditions have been absolutely, devastatingly dry,” Williams said. “Going forward, it makes me wonder about the viability of growing cereal commodity crops. It is a risk-based job but if I can manage my risk down by not growing those risky crops then maybe that’s something I should look at.”
These individual stories are part of a broader, worrying trend. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), an independent think tank, is now warning that the UK is on track to see its sixth or seventh worst harvest since records began forty years ago. Tom Lancaster, the ECIU’s head of land, food, and farming, told the BBC: “I don’t think we should look at this year just in isolation. This is part of a pattern, coming off the back of the second worst harvest last year and the worst harvest on record in 2020. It’s that pattern we need to be concerned about because, as these impacts on agriculture and on farmers start to stack up, farmers will just effectively stop farming.”
The National Farmers’ Union has described this year’s weather extremes as “unprecedented,” with the overall harvest picture “hugely varied.” Jamie Burrows, chairman of the NFU’s crops board, observed that while some farmers in rain-blessed regions are seeing “better-than-expected” yields, others are “facing significant drops which will have substantial financial implications on their businesses.”
Why is the situation so dire in certain regions? The answer, experts say, lies in the combination of little rainfall, low river levels, and lighter soils that simply can’t hold moisture. Farmers in these areas are watching their crops shrivel while those in damper, cooler regions are faring somewhat better. The result is a patchwork harvest, with fortunes rising and falling on the whims of local weather patterns.
For crops like carrots and onions, irrigation has provided a temporary lifeline. Yet, as Jack Ward of the BGA pointed out, “there are serious concerns about water supplies if the lack of rain continues.” The specter of water scarcity looms large, not just for this season but for the future viability of many types of farming in the UK.
For consumers, the immediate impact may be most visible at the supermarket. Shoppers are likely to encounter smaller heads of broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage, and in some cases, might find their favorite produce in shorter supply. As Ben Andrews put it, “shoppers will have to shift their expectations about the size and shape of the vegetables in supermarkets.”
Yet, behind the shelves, the story is one of mounting anxiety. Farmers are being forced to reconsider what they plant, how they manage risk, and even whether they can continue in the business at all. As Martin Williams reflected, “It makes me wonder about the viability of growing cereal commodity crops.”
Meanwhile, the British Growers Association is urging calm, noting that the industry is doing its best to adapt. By shifting production to wetter areas and investing in irrigation where possible, they hope to avoid the worst-case scenario of empty shelves. “At this stage, we are confident that the crops will be there,” said Jack Ward, “but the weather events of the last three months highlight the increasing uncertainty around our food supplies.”
As the UK edges through another summer of climatic extremes, the resilience of its farmers is being tested as never before. With the harvest picture so “hugely varied,” the future of food production in the country may depend on how growers, policymakers, and consumers respond to these new realities. The warning signs are clear: without meaningful changes and a bit of luck from the weather, the challenges facing UK agriculture are unlikely to fade anytime soon.
The fields of Herefordshire and beyond are telling a story of adaptation and uncertainty—one that will shape the food on Britain’s tables for years to come.
