Crops 'struggling to grow' on Dorset farms following record sunshine in April
The ‘unprecedented’ rain draught has forced Dorset farmers to “change the way they farm”
A Dorset farmer has issued a stark warning over the future of this year’s harvest, as record sunshine and a prolonged lack of rainfall push crops into “dire state”.
It comes after the Met Office confirmed April 2025 saw the most sunshine in the UK since records began 115 years ago.
Additionally, this spring has seen just 80mm of rainfall so far, a third of the usual 229mm, making it the driest on record.
West Dorset farmer, James Bowdwitch told us: “It's a very unprecedented period. We don't mind a dry summer, but a dry spring is very different because that's when we want everything to grow.
“The plants are not getting the moisture we need to grow all our stocks for next winter or our cash crops for the summer.”
This follows England’s wettest 18-month period between October 2022 and March 2024, which caused significant soil degradation, according to Defra.
Now, in a cruel twist, prolonged dryness is further compounding the damage.
Crops that would normally be knee height are reportedly only just creeping above the ankle.
Farmers now fear the long-term impact this will have on business as well as their cattle due to grass not growing at its usual rate.
Mr Bowdwitch said: I use to send the cows out to grass in the summer and now a large portion of them stay in all year round because you can't predict what the weather's going to do.
“You seem to get two months of horrific weather followed by two months of no rain at all, which is no good for man or beast.”
There is growing concern that unless the weather improves in the next ten days, there could be significant grain shortages.
“Food security in this country is dire, and we are going to become less than 50% self-sufficient at a very rapid rate,” Mr Bowdwitch added. “Ultimately, farmers are businessmen and they will stop putting seeds in the ground when A) they're not going to grow, and B) they're not going to make any profit from it.”
His concerns echo warnings from the Environment Agency, which has placed the country at “medium risk” of summer drought. With long-range forecasts suggesting another 10 weeks of dry weather, the situation for British farming could soon become critical.