UK farmers lose £1bn from extreme wet winter: comment on new Defra data

“Farmers are now counting the costs of climate change, with over a billion pounds knocked off arable farm incomes following the extreme wet winter that we saw in 2024. This lost income hits the sector just as the same farmers are having to contend with a record breaking warm and dry spring, that is likely to hit this year’s harvest too [2].

“Increasingly extreme weather is testing the financial resilience of farming to breaking point and jeopardising our food security, just as reports suggest that the spending review next week may reduce the funding available for the government’s new green farming schemes. These schemes are a critical investment in the resilience of food production in England, investing in healthier soils, more pollinators and measures to reduce flood risk. They are also key to reaching net zero emissions for agriculture, the only sure way to prevent these impacts and their costs escalating in the future.”

Although overall UK farm income was up in current prices from £6.1 billion to £7.7 billion between 2023 and 2024, income from the main arable crops fell by £1.19 billion. Alongside falling prices, this was the result of the extreme wet winter in 2023/24 that reduced the main wheat crop output by 20% and which was made worse by climate change [3]. The reduction in income for these arable crops is broadly in line with forecasts published by ECIU in May 2024 [4]. Of the crops looked at in previous ECIU analysis, income from wheat fell by £796m, income from barley fell by £190m and from oilseed rape by £149m. Income from oats increased marginally by £16m.