Growers are battling “extremely challenging” weather as heatwave conditions take hold across the UK again.
Rapid fluctuations in temperature from around 10°C on cooler days to highs of 34°C are causing issues on farms including scorching produce and shutting down growth, growers have warned.
On Riverford Organic farms, vegetables are bolting, developing uneven growth or suffering stress, it said.
The veg box supplier added that heat also increased pressure from pests including the silver Y moth, whose caterpillars have damaged lettuce crops after migrating from mainland Europe.
“The rapid swings between cool and very hot weather have been challenging because crops don’t have time to adjust,” said John Richards, senior farm manager at Riverford.
This is made more challenging in an organic set-up that doesn’t use pesticides or fertilisers. Instead, the brand “manage[s] those pressures by encouraging beneficial insects, healthy soils and biodiversity across the farm”.
Riverford CEO Rob Haward said this can provide an advantage because it enables the business to build “long-term resilience into the system rather than just relying on short-term fixes when conditions become difficult”.
Part of this involves investing in additional reservoirs and irrigation infrastructure on farms to improve water security.
“The extreme heat is once again extremely challenging for field vegetable crops, especially those which are not irrigated,” warned John Walgate, CEO of British Growers Association.
He echoed calls for more focus on water management and argued for a “longer-term plan to ensure we capture winter rainfall for summer use to ensure domestic food production can be maintained”.
He added: “Hopefully this will be integral to the growth plan for horticulture.”
The NFU also called for more action on water resilience last month in the face of extreme weather becoming “more frequent and more severe”.
“Food security starts with water,” said Paul Tompkins, NFU deputy president. “To safeguard our domestic food supply, we must build resilience to climate volatility.
“Government must go further to secure farmers and growers’ access to water during shortages, through planning and regulatory reforms that support on-farm water storage, investment in water efficiency and innovation in more water-efficient crops and systems.”
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