In Herefordshire, farmer Ben Andrews is watching vegetable plants try to make a crop under a sky that has offered little relief. The rows are still there, but the weather has turned ordinary field work into a running argument with the forecast.
Seriously struggling.
Ben Andrews, Herefordshire farmer
The problem is wider than one farm. Drought conditions have been declared in parts of Wales, while areas across eastern and southern England have endured exceptionally low or no rainfall. The geography matters: Britain’s vegetable belt is spread across places that do not share one water system, one soil, or one easy answer. Drought conditions are spreading across parts of the UK.
A dry spell with a long memory
Farmers are coming off back-to-back heatwaves and a prolonged dry period. Temperatures have eased from their recent highs, but that does not refill reservoirs or put moisture back into a root zone overnight. Water shortages and wildfires are still threatening farm businesses and the wider food supply, according to Farmers Weekly’s account of the pressure.
For vegetable growers, the calendar is unforgiving. A missed planting window can leave land idle, while a crop that establishes unevenly may consume labor and water without producing a marketable return. Andrews has warned that the conditions could force him to stop growing vegetables, a decision that would be less about abandoning farming than refusing to plant into a field with poor odds.
The labor behind the rows
The strain reaches beyond plants and pumps. Agricultural workers are under severe pressure as crews work around difficult field conditions, and the disruption could contribute to food shortages if growers cannot maintain production. A farm can have seed, land, and a willing workforce and still be unable to make a crop when the water does not arrive.
The weather pattern is also beginning to alter the practical calculation of what gets planted. Reports from across the country describe farmers questioning whether it is worth putting crops in at all after three heatwaves and an exceptionally dry season. One Merseyside farmer described this year as the driest he has known, a blunt measure of how quickly a seasonal problem can become a business decision.
The immediate uncertainty is not simply whether rain falls, but when it falls and where. A short storm may settle dust without rebuilding dependable supply, while continued dryness can push more growers toward reducing plantings or leaving fields unused. For farms built around tight succession schedules, that distinction is the difference between a delayed harvest and no harvest at all.