![\"British](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/british-farming-1.jpg\")
\t\tFarmers have been hit by a series of body blows\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tFriday 17 April 2026 4:50 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThursday 16 April 2026 5:00 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tFarmers have been hit by a series of body blows\t<\/p>\n
The Iran war has left farmers facing another round of brutal cost rises. With the scars wrought by the cost-of-living crisis only just beginning to heal, many are warning that something will have to give.<\/p>\n
The bucolic West Suffolk estate managed by farmer Andrew Blenkiron does not, on appearances, look like a scene ravaged by the effects of a pan-regional conflict. With its idyllic, undulating hills and heathland kissed by the early spring sun, it boasts the kind of chocolate box feel that, if anything, would constitute a perfect refuge from the ugliness of a raging hot war.<\/p>\n
But the talons of the protracted closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane<\/a> \u2013 and the energy crisis the blockage it has yielded \u2013 have gripped even this most clement of settings, leading to a chorus of warnings that UK\u2019s food security is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe present situation is pretty frightening,\u201d Blenkiron tells City AM from his Elvenden Edstate arable farm 30 miles north east of Cambridge. \u201cWe use a lot of energy and fuel \u2013 either for electricity for storage or to run our fleet of tractors \u2013 so everything going on is having quite an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n In an average year, Blenkiron\u2019s farm<\/a> produces over 100,000 tonnes of cereals and vegetables ranging from potatoes, parsnips, carrots and sugar beet. Its produce ends up on the shelves of Britain\u2019s supermarkets, in the bags of UK-produced sugar, and is deep fried in McDonald\u2019s branches up and down the country.<\/p>\n And from pumping water around the farm to water its vast of crops, cooling its many storage facilities, or filling up its diesel-guzzling army of industrial-sized tractors, producing such vast output takes energy, electricity and a lot of fuel.<\/p>\n The outbreak of war in Iran, the arable farmer says, has made all of that considerably more expensive. But it is the cost of red diesel \u2013 and fears of its supply \u2013 that have proved particularly painful.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week, it was costing us an extra \u00a31,500 a day just for the increase in diesel,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd that\u2019s before you even count anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n The choke-hold that Iran \u2013 and now the United States \u2013 have had over shipping out of the Persian gulf has led to the largest single-month rise in the price of oil. Brent crude \u2013 the international benchmark \u2013 climbed over 50 per cent in March,<\/a> and has remained above the symbolic $100 per barrel milestone for much of the war. But after the conflict crippled much of the Middle East\u2019s refining plants, price rises processed fuel markets \u2013 like jet fuel, petrol and diesel \u2013 have been even more extreme.<\/p>\n Since the eruption tensions, red diesel \u2013 the specific type of fuel used by tractors and other heavy machine \u2013 has doubled from 66p per litre to 123p per litre<\/a>, forcing farmers across the country to rip up their budgets for the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking and thinking, \u2018how long will it go at this price?\u2019 Blenkiron says. \u201cAnd our projection is it\u2019s going to cost us, probably, \u00a3400,000 more for this calendar year assuming it will drop to a pound a litre by the end of April.\u201d<\/p>\n According to National Farmers\u2019 Union president Tom Bradshaw, the Blenkiron\u2019s predicament is one being faced by those responsible for feeding the country across the UK. And to make matters even more challenging, often the extent of the cost rises can take them off-guard.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\t\u2018Unprecedented\u2019 \u2013 Food inflation to soar to 9 per cent by end of year<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFarmers and growers are having to shoulder increased costs of fuel and fertiliser, often only being made aware of the price they will pay once products have been delivered onto farm,\u201d he says. \u201cMeanwhile, many horticulture businesses face a double whammy with the surging cost of heating glasshouses, combined with the large increases to their standing charges for energy use which have now come into force.\u201d<\/p>\n The grave situation has spawned a wave of warnings that food inflation on a similar scale to when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine will rear its ugly head. According to the Food and Drink Federation, come September shoppers can expect their weekly shop to be 10 per cent more expensive<\/a> than the same time last year, as supermarkets push price rises onto customers.<\/p>\n But the sort of long-term contracts signed by large-scale farms Blenkiron signs with his customers, mean that, he finds himself in a bind. Facing diesel twice the price looking down the barrel of months of higher energy bills \u2013 something will have to break.<\/p>\n In fertilisers, some farmers have a rare \u2013 and unlikely \u2013 silver lining. When Russia invaded Ukraine prices for the agricultural essential skyrocketed, leaving deep scarring on British farms\u2019 financial viability. Both Russia and and Belarus boasted a stranglehold on the supply of staple fertilisers like like Muriate of Potash, the price of which rose 53 per cent after its supply was choked off thanks to the sweeping sanctions imposed on both states. <\/p>\n The production of the nutrient-boosting supplement is also highly energy intensive. The nitrogen on which most are based tends to be produced using vast quantities of natural gas, meaning other types were also carried higher by the invasion\u2019s choking effect on energy markets.<\/p>\n The parallels with the current conflict are obvious. Not only has the Middle East war led to a similar natural gas price shock, but the Strait of Hormuz is also a key artery for the trade key fertiliser ingredients, from ammonia to nitrogen, hikes to fertiliser. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development board, most fertiliser prices have jumped by more than 25 per cent in the past six weeks, with costs still trending upwards.<\/p>\n Somebody is going to have to bear this cost somewhere down the line. These sort of things can only go on so long.<\/p>\n![\"Bustling](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Hormuz-Iran-shipping.jpg\")
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced gas prices higherFarmers face diesel crisis<\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/national-farmers-union-nfus-Tom-Bradshaw.jpg\")
The NFU\u2019s Tom BradshawFertiliser fortune<\/p>\n