The coldest and driest April on record followed last year’s drought, which itself was the most extreme in all my years of farming. Extremes in weather really do seem to be the trend now and it inevitably forces us to ask many challenging questions which start (and almost end) with ‘how do we produce food without water?’
It has now rained and doesn’t look like stopping any time soon! So is this just normal ‘British weather’ or are we looking at genuine changes in weather patterns? I think the latter and without debating the causes, we must adapt because the answer to my question is: ‘you can’t produce food without water’!
All the land in Oving parish sits over chalk that acts as a natural underground aquifer. Fissures in the chalk store winter rainfall water that can be extracted in the spring/summer via boreholes. However, as the population increases in the region and more houses are built every year, the competition for this finite water resource increases. Naturally, the demand from the water companies take precedent over the needs of farming and the Environment agency will not allow farms to sink new bore holes. At the same time, a combination of climate change and demand from the water companies is already reducing water levels in our stream and rivers with serious knock on effects to these important wildlife habitats.
However, we have plenty of water in the winter (winters seems to be getting wetter annually so no concerns there!) when of course we don’t need it. The solution is to capture the winter rainfall and store it in reservoirs for spring/summer use. This is what we are looking at now, but the cost is extremely high. The reality is that the total value of an acre of wheat or barley is less than the cost of storing water, let alone applying it and paying the Environment Agency a fee for the privilege of being allowed to do it in the first place. High value intensive crops such as vegetables can absorb this cost but not traditional arable crops or grassland.
This poses some interesting questions, including whether we will see a significant change in what is grown in our region’s fields? Vineyards are already popping up everywhere and salad and vegetables are already widely grown. But the latter crops need to be part of a long term rotation with the likes of wheat or grass to prevent disease and maintain soil health. How will we achieve this without water? (Off topic but extremely relevant, is the question of who is going to pick the veg?). Organically, we also need to maintain our dairy herd to create fertility and enable a balanced environmentally sound rotation. No water means no grass and again, irrigation is prohibitively expensive.
So we have some challenges ahead but somewhere in the mix is an opportunity that we will find and embrace. Perhaps the holy grail is being able to enjoy a summer BBQ whilst knowing that our crops aren’t going thirsty -if that’s not a challenge worth taking up, I don’t know what is!
All our spring crops have now been sown and the last of these, maize, is just poking out the ground. We have a few more weeks before the rooks and crows will leave it alone. The cows have been out at grass since early March but are only now getting to enjoy some warmth and sun on their backs. This is important as our cows are extremely soft and pampered. So whilst some of their brethren in Scotland and Cumbria would find the coldest day in Oving a delight, the bovine residents at Reeds Farm would happily take a flight to Spain for some extra sun whether they had to quarantine on their return or not!
John Pitts
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