> Leaked documents seen by the Guardian from a meeting of the National Drought Group show concerning figures about the state of farming in England.
>
> Half of the potato crop is expected to fail as it cannot be irrigated, and even crops that are usually drought-tolerant, such as maize, have been failing.
>
> The group was told “irrigation options are diminishing with reservoirs being emptied fast”, and losses of 10-50% are expected for crops including carrots, onions, sugar beet, apples and hops. Milk production is also down nationally because of a lack of food for cows, and wildfires are putting large areas of farmland at risk.
>
> Farmers are deciding whether to drill crops for next year, and there are concerns that many will decide not to, with dire consequences for the 2023 harvest. Cattle and other livestock are expected to be slaughtered early at lower weights because it is likely farmers will run out of feed for them in winter.
Man a 50% crop failure would be fucking mad especially if it’s crops used for feed. Would likely kill off a lot of farms.
And just like that the world turns vegan
This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the impending climate catastrophe. If you are not scared, you should be. Listen to the Scientists.
There’ll be nowt coming from Europe either. Worst drought in 500 years.
Hosepipes use such a miniscule amount of water compared to a lot of industry, bans really don’t do much of anything at all
At this rate we’ll all become Vertical Farmers, its something the government needs to take seriously with all these heatwaves:
Domestic water usage is about 3-5% of use. Hosepipe bans generally save about 10% of that.
We need to talk about where the other 95% of water goes, not beat people over the head for filling up a bucket once a week to wash their car.
Genuine question – would hosepipe bans help now or retrospectively would they have ever helped? Surely farms get water or they don’t, as in, a hosepipe ban would be irrelevant – there’s either water supply or there isn’t?
“One of the driest areas is East Anglia, which is also home to much of England’s farming, including more than two-thirds of its sugar beet crop and a third of its potato crop.
However, Anglian Water has ruled out a hosepipe ban for this summer, arguing that it has good levels of water in reservoirs.”
😎
The UK really needs a Government, but just look at the shambles we’re actually stuck with.
Can someone explain why we don’t desalinate the sea water? It seems mad that we’re on island, surrounded by water but still don’t have enough. I know sea water isn’t drinkable but when there is a process to make it drinkable it seems strange that we’re not using it in an emergency.
Ontop of the crop fires…
This year is just shit in general for farming.
It’s ok, we took back control with Brexit so we will do better than the remaining EU countries at least.
Get the water companies who have been paid to maintain the pipes to actually maintain the fucking pipes. Fuck know what the directors get their massive pay packets for? They have obviously been taking the piss for decades!
‘Demand s hosepipe ban’.
Fuck off, why should my vegetables die?
Household use accounts for about 5% of water use in the UK, so hosepipes account for even less than that. Fix the leaks first.
Put this on top of high inflation and you get a shit storm.
Yea but this is normal! Typical scaring tactics from the green…
The U.K is like this every year.
Makes my blood boil.
But no mention of 3 billion litres a day wasted through leaks? When’s that going to be fixed then?
But what about the poor people’s hosepipes, the big nasty water companies are punishing us and taking our freedoms!! /s
Fix the pipes
Time to start indoor planting.
It’s a good thing that we haven’t just made it harder to import food from our closest neighbours.
Let’s be honest the amount of food wasted is disgusting. Decades of having more than what was needed and not appreciating just how lucky we are.
It’S jUsT sUmMeR!
But but but we dont need to import from anywhere else we are self sufficient. / s
The guy on my street who has been jet washing his camper van every fucking evening this week is going to be pissed off if we get a ban.
Heinz Tomato Soup with Bread incoming.
I really am starting to look at going more plant based. When you think about it it is crazy how much water is used for farming animals.
Do they also demand that we stop mass-farming cattle? Because that’s how we prevent these droughts
Do they also demand that we stop mass-farming cattle? Because that’s how we prevent these droughts
31 comments
> Leaked documents seen by the Guardian from a meeting of the National Drought Group show concerning figures about the state of farming in England.
>
> Half of the potato crop is expected to fail as it cannot be irrigated, and even crops that are usually drought-tolerant, such as maize, have been failing.
>
> The group was told “irrigation options are diminishing with reservoirs being emptied fast”, and losses of 10-50% are expected for crops including carrots, onions, sugar beet, apples and hops. Milk production is also down nationally because of a lack of food for cows, and wildfires are putting large areas of farmland at risk.
>
> Farmers are deciding whether to drill crops for next year, and there are concerns that many will decide not to, with dire consequences for the 2023 harvest. Cattle and other livestock are expected to be slaughtered early at lower weights because it is likely farmers will run out of feed for them in winter.
Man a 50% crop failure would be fucking mad especially if it’s crops used for feed. Would likely kill off a lot of farms.
And just like that the world turns vegan
This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the impending climate catastrophe. If you are not scared, you should be. Listen to the Scientists.
There’ll be nowt coming from Europe either. Worst drought in 500 years.
Hosepipes use such a miniscule amount of water compared to a lot of industry, bans really don’t do much of anything at all
At this rate we’ll all become Vertical Farmers, its something the government needs to take seriously with all these heatwaves:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-is-vertical-farming/
Domestic water usage is about 3-5% of use. Hosepipe bans generally save about 10% of that.
We need to talk about where the other 95% of water goes, not beat people over the head for filling up a bucket once a week to wash their car.
Genuine question – would hosepipe bans help now or retrospectively would they have ever helped? Surely farms get water or they don’t, as in, a hosepipe ban would be irrelevant – there’s either water supply or there isn’t?
“One of the driest areas is East Anglia, which is also home to much of England’s farming, including more than two-thirds of its sugar beet crop and a third of its potato crop.
However, Anglian Water has ruled out a hosepipe ban for this summer, arguing that it has good levels of water in reservoirs.”
😎
The UK really needs a Government, but just look at the shambles we’re actually stuck with.
Can someone explain why we don’t desalinate the sea water? It seems mad that we’re on island, surrounded by water but still don’t have enough. I know sea water isn’t drinkable but when there is a process to make it drinkable it seems strange that we’re not using it in an emergency.
Ontop of the crop fires…
This year is just shit in general for farming.
It’s ok, we took back control with Brexit so we will do better than the remaining EU countries at least.
Get the water companies who have been paid to maintain the pipes to actually maintain the fucking pipes. Fuck know what the directors get their massive pay packets for? They have obviously been taking the piss for decades!
‘Demand s hosepipe ban’.
Fuck off, why should my vegetables die?
Household use accounts for about 5% of water use in the UK, so hosepipes account for even less than that. Fix the leaks first.
Put this on top of high inflation and you get a shit storm.
Yea but this is normal! Typical scaring tactics from the green…
The U.K is like this every year.
Makes my blood boil.
But no mention of 3 billion litres a day wasted through leaks? When’s that going to be fixed then?
But what about the poor people’s hosepipes, the big nasty water companies are punishing us and taking our freedoms!! /s
Fix the pipes
Time to start indoor planting.
It’s a good thing that we haven’t just made it harder to import food from our closest neighbours.
Let’s be honest the amount of food wasted is disgusting. Decades of having more than what was needed and not appreciating just how lucky we are.
It’S jUsT sUmMeR!
But but but we dont need to import from anywhere else we are self sufficient. / s
The guy on my street who has been jet washing his camper van every fucking evening this week is going to be pissed off if we get a ban.
Heinz Tomato Soup with Bread incoming.
I really am starting to look at going more plant based. When you think about it it is crazy how much water is used for farming animals.
Do they also demand that we stop mass-farming cattle? Because that’s how we prevent these droughts
Do they also demand that we stop mass-farming cattle? Because that’s how we prevent these droughts