There’s going to be an important ‘drought summit’ today where farmers will plead with the Government for help to deal with conditions created by the heatwave.
They’re concerned about the ‘unprecedented’ impact on food production the hot and dry weather has created.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet Environment Secretary Michael Gove in London to discuss how to deal with conditions that have reduced grass growth and depleted some yields.
MORE: Man plucked gran’s eyeballs ‘because of demons behind them’ then killed her NFU president Minette Batters is in no doubt how big the potential crisis is and plans to make this known to Mr Gove.
She told the BBC: ‘It’s unprecedented.
I’ve been farming for 25 years myself and we’ve never been feeding cattle at this time of the year, and we are at the moment, and that is the case right across the country.’ ‘We haven’t had any appreciable rainfall since May, but if you have your office outside you are obviously at the mercy of the weather.
‘This is unusual – we haven’t seen anything like this since 1976.
‘It’s added a lot of costs because it comes on the back of a long, hard winter.
I think that’s what has made this year so very unusual.’ MORE: Train worker hugs suicidal man and asks ‘are you having a bad day?’ as he saves his life The meeting will be packed with members from rural agencies and farming charities who will also have their say in front of officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
It has been the driest first half of summer since 1961, with Thursday and Friday experiencing the first rainfall in weeks.